Integrated Photonic Manufacturing Enabled by Ultrafast Laser Technology

Focussed Ultrashort laser pulses can modify the local refractive index of certain materials, significant research has been expended into using ultrafast lasers to fabricate integrated optical devices. Integrated optical waveguides ? the optical analogue of wires ? can be simply fabricated by translating the sample in the path of such short optical pulse trains, which effectively amounts to writing the desired optical circuit in a controlled way in that sample. This direct-write approach offers several key benefits over conventional fabrication techniques. It neither requires use of expensive clean room facilities, nor involves complex film deposition and subsequent etching processes. This technology can also yield 3D structures, unachievable through conventional techniques.

In my talk I will present how the ultrafast laser inscription technology can be used to develop compact lasers, supercontinuum chips and biophotonic devices