Optical and electro-optical properties of submicrometer lithium niobate slab waveguides prepared by crystal ion slicing and wafer bonding

LiNbO 3 thin film crystals have been produced using crystal ion slicing and wafer bonding. Films with a thickness of 680 nm are produced on a thin layer of SiO 2 , which is deposited on a substrate with electrodes. The crystalline and optical qualities of the fabricated thin films are investigated and are comparable to bulk LiNbO 3 single crystals. The effect of thermal annealing is studied using Rutherford backscattering. The refractive indices and the electro-optical (EO) coefficient of the fabricated films are measured using prism coupling dark line spectroscopy and modified attenuated total reflection. The EO coefficient is equal to r 33 = 31 pm ∕ V at λ = 633 nm .