Progress in fabrication of waveguide spatial light modulators via femtosecond laser micromachining

Abstract

We have previously introduced a femtosecond laser micromachining-based scheme for the fabrication of anisotropic waveguides in lithium niobate for use in a guided-wave acousto-optic spatial light modulator. This spatial light modulation scheme is extensible to off-plane waveguide holography via the integration of a Bragg reflection grating. In this paper, we present femtosecond laser-based direct-write approaches for the fabrication of (1) waveguide in-coupling gratings and (2) volume Bragg reflection gratings via permanent refractive index changes within the lithium niobate substrate. In combination with metal surface-acoustic-wave transducers, these direct-write approaches allow for complete fabrication of a functional spatial light modulator via femtosecond laser direct writing. Keywords: guided-wave acousto-optics, femtosecond laser micromachining, laser-written waveguides, laser-written gratings, lithium niobate, volume gratings