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AssigneeThe Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
InventorsAntonije M. Radojevic, Richard M. Osgood, Jr., Miguel Levy
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A method for fabricating ultra-thin single-crystal metal oxide wave retarder plates, such as a zeroth-order X-cut single-crystal LiNbO3 half-wave plate, comprises ion implanting a bulk birefringent metal oxide crystal at normal incidence through a planar major surface thereof to form a damage layer at a predetermined distance d below the planar major surface, and detaching a single-crystal wave retarder plate from the bulk crystal by either chemically etching away the damage layer or by subjecting the bulk crystal having the damage layer to a rapid temperature increase to effect thermally induced snap-off detachment of the wave retarder plate. The detached wave retarder plate has a predetermined thickness d dependent on the ion implantation energy. A half-wave plate fabricated in accordance with this method may be used in conjunction with an optical waveguide section to form a TE-TM polarization mode converter by mounting the half-wave plate in a groove in the wageguide section perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation therein, bonding the half-wave plate to the back-end facet of the waveguide section or bonding the half-wave plate to the front-end facet of the waveguide section. In each case the normal mode axes of the half-wave plate is at 45° with respect to the direction of the electric field vector of the TE or TM mode of propagation in the waveguide section.
A method for fabricating a wave retarder plate from a bulk birefringent metal oxide crystal having a planar major surface oriented with respect to principal crystallographic axes of the bulk crystal such that a plane wave normally incident on the planar major surface propagates in the bulk crystal in a first and a second normal mode having orthogonal polarizations and travelling at velocities of c0/na and c0/nb, respectively, where c0 is the velocity of the plane wave in vacuum, and na is the index of refraction along a first normal mode axis, nb is the index of refraction along a second normal mode axis and nb>na, the method comprising:
A method for fabricating a wave retarder plate from a bulk birefringent metal oxide crystal having a planar major surface oriented with respect to principal crystallographic axes of the bulk crystal such that a plane light wave normally incident of the planar major surface propagates in the bulk crystal in a first and a second mode of orthogonal polarization at velocities of c0/na and c0/nb, respectively, where c0 is the velocity of the plane light wave in vacuum, na is the index of refraction along a first mode axis of the bulk crystal, nb is the index of refraction along a second mode axis of the bulk crystal and nb>na, the method comprising:
A method for fabricating a wave retarder plate from a bulk birefringent metal oxide crystal having a planar major surface oriented with respect to principal crystallographic axes of the bulk crystal such that a plane light wave of normal incidence on the planar major surface propagates in the bulk crystal in a first and a second mode of orthogonal polarization at velocities of c0/na and c0/nb, respectively, where c0 is the velocity of the plane light wave in vacuum, na is the index of refraction along a first normal mode axis of the bulk crystal, nb is the index of refraction along a second normal mode axis of the bulk crystal and nb>na, the method comprising:
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