Thermal stability of photosensitive Bragg gratings in sputter-deposited germanosilicate glass

The thermal stability of photo-imprinted Bragg gratings formed in reactive-atmosphere, RF-magnetron sputtered germanosilicate thin films was evaluated in terms of point defect modifications observed during isochronal annealing. Optical and magnetic spectroscopes were utilized to evaluate structural relaxation in these sputtered glasses on both a local and medium-range size scale. Depending upon the substrate temperature used during deposition, significant structural rearrangement was found to occur with increasing post-deposition anneal temperature to 600 C. This resulted in changes in the photobleaching response of the material itself as the identity of optically active structural defects evolved. Based on a color center model for photosensitivity in these materials and measured changes in optical absorption with annealing, the thermal stability of a photo-imprinted Bragg grating was modeled. Good qualitative agreement with experiment was observed.