Wave guiding by low refractive-index strips on surfaces of Chalcogenide glass thin films

In this paper, we proposed and demonstrated a simple ChG waveguide structure, guided by low refractive-index strips on the surfaces of planar ChG films. Theoretical analysis shows that it supports quasi-TE mode transmission in 1.5μm band with high nonlinearity. Samples of this surface guiding ChG waveguides are fabricated. Its transmission properties are measured by the cut-off method, showing a waveguide attenuation of 0.67dB/mm and a coupling loss with optical fibers of ~8dB/facet. It provides a simple way to realize high quality ChG waveguides, which has great potential in developing nonlinear photonic devices.