Fabrication and direct bonding of photosensitive multicomponent silicate glasses for lossless planar waveguide splitters

Abstract In this paper the fabrication, characterization, and thermal assisted bonding of two photosensitive silicate glasses is presented, as part of a wider process aiming to obtain a planar waveguide lossless splitter for telecom applications. Two glass compositions are investigated: an Er–Yb doped silicate glass, which amplifies the signals when pumped at 980 μm and a matchable passive glass, which is designed to host the waveguide splitter. The two parts were bonded successfully using direct bonding technique at 605 ± 20 °C for 240 min under a pressure of 28 kPa. Vickers hardness measurements were made on the bulk glasses and at the bonded interface, which showed no cracks propagating along the interface.