Fabrication of periodically poled lithium niobate by direct laser-writing and its poling quality evaluation

Abstract

We fabricated a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) by direct laser-writing of a quasi-phase-matching (QPM) structure in photolithographic process. Because we do not need to prepare a photomask by electron-beam writing, the “maskless” process shortens the fabrication time and significantly reduces the cost. We evaluated the poling quality of the direct laser-written PPLN by measuring the diffraction noise from the surface relief pattern of the fabricated QPM grating and comparing the results to those from a conventional PPLN made with a photomask. The quality of the PPLN fabricated by direct laser-writing was shown to be equivalent to that fabricated by the conventional method.