Abstract

We relate the modal waveguide attenuation of polycrystalline ZnS films to their mode field properties, namely the field amplitudes at the interfaces and the power confinement factor, to show that the total waveguide attenuation is caused by a combination of volume and surface effects. Our results show that the surface losses for the TE₀ mode, which are approximately 1.5 dB/cm, are independent of the total attenuation, which varies from 6 to 40 dB/cm. This suggests that the losses of the lower-order modes are dominated by volume effects such as scattering from crystallite boundaries and absorption.

© 1993 Optical Society of America

Scattering in ZnO-Sapphire Optical Waveguides

D. J. Channin, J. M. Hammer, and M. T. Duffy
Appl. Opt. 14(4) 923-930 (1975)

Attenuation, modal, and polarization properties of n < 1, hollow dielectric waveguides

Christopher C. Gregory and James A. Harrington
Appl. Opt. 32(27) 5302-5309 (1993)

Determination of interface roughness by using a spectroscopic total-integrated-scatter instrument

Daniel Rönnow, Mikael Bergkvist, Arne Roos, and C.-G. Ribbing
Appl. Opt. 32(19) 3448-3451 (1993)

Er:YAG, CO, and CO₂ laser delivery by ZnS-coated Ag hollow waveguides

Yuji Matsuura and Mitsunobu Miyagi
Appl. Opt. 32(33) 6598-6601 (1993)

Optical waveguide characterization of dielectric films deposited by reactive low-voltage ion plating

Thomas C. Kimble, Marc D. Himel, and Karl H. Guenther
Appl. Opt. 32(28) 5640-5644 (1993)