Photo-written three-dimensional optical circuits in iron doped lithium niobate crystals

We present our experimental results on fabricating optical waveguides by laser micromachining, structure-light illuminating, and optical spatial dark solitons in iron doped lithium niobate (LiNbO₃:Fe) crystals. After that we propose a novel approach to fabricate three-dimensional (3-D) optical circuits in LiNbO₃ crystals by combining the three light-induction techniques listed above. By employing laser micromachining, a curved and a Y-branches waveguides are successfully fabricated. With binary and SLM-prepared optical masks, Y-branches and gradient planar waveguides are experimentally demonstrated. By utilizing one-dimensional (1-D) optical spatial dark solitons, planar, Y-branches, and square channel waveguides are formed. The results show that each of the three methods can be employed to write optical waveguides in LiNbO₃ crystals. By combing the three methods, 3-D light circuits can be created in 45°-cut bulk crystals by several procedures. Initially, a quasi-planar optical circuit is created in a thin layer of the crystal by structure-light illuminating with an optical mask. Then, a planar circuit is generated by utilizing a 1-D dark soltion. And then, form multi-layer planar circuits are formed by altering the positions of the crystal or writing beam. Finally, laser micromachining is used to link the different layers to form a 3-D light circuit. Furthermore, functional 3-D integrated optical system may be implemented by using the proposed approach.