Accelerated aging of annealed proton-exchanged waveguides

Author

Kissa, Karl M. ; Suchoski, Paul G. ; Lewis, D. Kirk

Author_Institution

Uniphase Telecommun. Products, Bloomfield, CT, USA

Volume

13

Issue

7

fYear

1995

fDate

7/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1521

Lastpage

1529

Abstract

Low temperature hydrogen diffusion in annealed proton-exchanged (APE) waveguides has the potential of degrading device performance over a period of several years. An accelerated aging study was performed in order to determine its impact on device performance. The effect of aging was modeled as a second anneal. Both planar waveguides and Y-fed balanced-bridge modulator (YBBM) devices were aged at elevated temperatures. The hydrogen concentration profile of the planar waveguides was measured after aging with secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and compared to the profile from a control sample. The YBBM characteristics were measured as a function of aging time as well. Measured activation energies indicate that hydrogen diffusion is the dominant aging mechanism in the YBBM. Extrapolations indicate that device degradation is negligible at temperatures of 95°C or below. An operating/storage temperature as high as 125°C can be sustained for 13 years with little effect. A method for determining the effect of aging on any device is outlined

Keywords

ageing; annealing; diffusion; ion exchange; life testing; lithium compounds; modelling; optical fabrication; optical modulation; optical planar waveguides; optical testing; secondary ion mass spectroscopy; 125 C; 13 y; 95 C; LiNbO3; LiNbO₃; Y-fed balanced-bridge modulator; accelerated aging; accelerated aging study; activation energies; aging time; annealed proton-exchanged waveguides; degrading device performance; device degradation; elevated temperatures; hydrogen concentration profile; hydrogen diffusion; low temperature hydrogen diffusion; operating temperature; planar waveguides; second anneal; secondary ion mass spectrometry; several years; storage temperature; Accelerated aging; Annealing; Degradation; Energy measurement; Hydrogen; Mass spectroscopy; Planar waveguides; Temperature; Time measurement; Weight control;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.400721

Filename

400721