Synthesis of optical waveguides in SiO2 by silver ion implantation

Abstract Optical waveguides have been obtained by silver ion implantation on fused silica substrates. Silver ion implantation profiles were calculated in a SiO 2 matrix with different energies of implantation from 125 keV to 10 MeV. Refractive index change (Δ n ) of the ion implanted waveguides was calculated as a function of their chemical composition. Optical absorption spectra of waveguides obtained by 9 MeV silver ion implantation, at a dose of 5 × 10 16 ions/cm 2 , exhibit the typical absorption band associated to the surface plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles. Effective refractive indices of the propagation modes and waveguide propagation losses of silver ion implanted waveguides are also presented.