Fundamentals of Ion Beam Technology, Waveguides, and Nanoparticle Systems

Abstract

Ion beam technology is capable of engineering the properties of dielectrics in a flexible manner. Several techniques have been used to fabricate optical waveguides with diverse geometries and synthesize nanoparticles that are embedded in various materials, which enables broad applications in optics and photonics. In this chapter, the ion beam technology is briefly introduced in Sect. 1.1, giving an overview of the ion beam facilities and the applied techniques for waveguide fabrication and nanoparticle synthesis in dielectric materials. In Sect. 1.2, the fundamentals of optical waveguide theory based on dielectrics are briefly introduced. Section 1.3 describes the systems consisting of nanoparticles and their dielectric circumstances, and focuses on the general optical effects. The well-established techniques for characterization of optical waveguides and nanoparticle systems are overviewed in Sect. 1.4.