CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTON-EXCHANGED WET ETCHING ON Z-CUT NICKEL-INDIFFUSED LITHIUM-NIOBATE

In this letter, the wet etching technique is utilized to determine the proton exchange (PE) depth of z-cut nickel-indiffused lithium niobate under different nickel indiffusion parameters. It is demonstrated tha t the existence of nickel atoms reduces the PE depth. While this resul t was applied to the fabrication of a ridge-type waveguide, the lilt a ngle of the sidewall on the ridge waveguide was about 70 degrees, whic h has been successfully increased (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.