Optical waveguides formed in Nd:YVO4 by MeV Si+ implantation

The planar waveguide has been fabricated in a Nd:YVO4 crystal by 3.0 MeV Si+ ion implantation at a dose of 1×1015 ions/cm2 at room temperature. The waveguide was characterized by the prism-coupling method. The dark modes are measured before and after the annealing at 240 °C for 60 min in air. The refractive index profile is reconstructed using reflectivity calculation method. It is found that relatively large positive change of ordinary refractive index happens in the guiding region, which is quite different from most of the observed ion-implanted waveguides. The TRIM’98 code is carried out to simulate the energy loss during the implantation in order to obtain a better understanding for the waveguide formation.