Heterogeneous sapphire-supported low-loss photonics platform

TL;DR

This paper presents a new low-loss photonic platform on sapphire substrates that achieves high quality factors and is compatible with solid-state laser gain media, advancing visible photonics integration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel waveguiding strategy on sapphire that significantly reduces optical loss and enhances integration with laser gain materials.

Findings

Achieves a high intrinsic quality factor of 5.6 million near 780 nm

Demonstrates compatibility with various solid-state laser gain media

Establishes a high-performance integrated photonics platform on sapphire

Abstract

Sapphire is a promising wideband substrate material for visible photonics. It is a common growth substrate for III-nitride light-emitting diodes and laser structures. Doped sapphires are important gain media foundational to the development of titanium-sapphire and ruby lasers. For lasers operating at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, a photonic platform that minimizes loss while maximizing gain material overlap is crucial. Here, we introduce a novel low-loss waveguiding strategy that establishes high-performance integrated photonics on sapphire substrates. This platform achieves a high intrinsic quality factor of 5.6 million near 780 nm and features direct compatibility with a range of solid-state laser gain media.