Fabrication of free-standing lithium niobate nanowaveguides down to 50 nm in width

Reinhard Geiss, Anton Sergeyev, Holger Hartung, Alexander S. Solntsev, Andrey A. Sukhorukov, Rachel Grange, Frank Schrempel, Ernst Bernhard Kley, Andreas Tü Nnermann, Thomas Pertsch

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    12 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Nonlinear optical nanoscale waveguides are a compact and powerful platform for efficient wavelength conversion. The free-standing waveguide geometry opens a range of applications in microscopy for local delivery of light, where in situ wavelength conversion helps to overcome various wavelength-dependent issues, such as biological tissue damage. In this paper, we present an original patterning method for high-precision fabrication of free-standing nanoscale waveguides based on lithium niobate, a material with a strong second-order nonlinearity and a broad transparency window covering the visible and mid-infrared wavelength ranges. The fabrication process combines electron-beam lithography with ion-beam enhanced etching and produces nanowaveguides with lengths from 5 to 50 μm, widths from 50 to 1000 nm and heights from 50 to 500 nm, each with a precision of few nanometers. The fabricated nanowaveguides are tested in an optical characterization experiment showing efficient second-harmonic generation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number065301
    JournalNanotechnology
    Volume27
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 18 Jan 2016

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