Optical planar and ridge waveguides in terbium scandium aluminum garnet crystal fabricated by ion implantation and precise diamond blade dicing

Terbium scandium aluminum garnet crystal is a promising material which has excellent characteristics for magneto-optical devices. We report on the fabrication of optical planar and ridge waveguides in the terbium scandium aluminum garnet by using combination of helium ion implantation and precise diamond blade dicing. The conditions for the ion implantation are an energy of 400 keV and a fluence of 6 × 1016 ions/cm2. The rotating velocity and cutting speed of the diamond blade were set to be 20,000 rpm and 0.1 mm/s, respectively. The implantation depth and distributions of energy loss were calculated by the stopping and range of ions in matter 2013. The refractive index distribution and the dark-mode spectrum for the implanted planar waveguide were obtained by the reflectivity calculation method and the prism coupling system, respectively. The near-field intensity profiles of both the planar and ridge waveguides were measured by the end-face coupling technique. The optical guiding properties of the terbium scandium aluminum garnet waveguides suggest that they can serve as candidates for optical waveguide isolators. •Planar and ridge waveguides are formed in terbium scandium aluminum garnet.•Waveguides demonstrate acceptable guiding properties.•Ion implantation and diamond blade dicing are used in TSAG crystal.