MODIFICATION OF PHOTOREFRACTIVE WAVE-GUIDES IN LITHIUM-NIOBATE BY GUIDED BEAM FOR OPTICAL-DYNAMIC INTERCONNECTION

We investigate experimentally and numerically a novel method of modify ing photorefractive waveguides in a lithium niobate crystal by a guide d beam. The guided beam with a strong optical power can change the ref ractive index of the photorefractive waveguide because of the photoref ractive effect. The modification of waveguide structure can be utilize d for optical dynamic interconnection. Changes of optical characterist ics of a probe beam caused by a modification beam are investigated. Ex perimental results show that the transmitted power or the peak intensi ty of the probe beam decreases exponentially as a function of total ex posure energy of the modification beam. We also numerically analyze th e refractive index change caused by the modification beam in the photo refractive waveguide. The numerical results show good agreement with t he experimental results.