Using Bessel Beams to Induce Optical Waveguides

Abstract

Fabricating integrated waveguides using light is key to realizing miniaturized optical circuits and networks in a full three-dimensional volume, an achievement that presently is hampered by diffraction in the writing beams. The authors demonstrate the use of nondiffracting Bessel beams to write waveguides that support localized modes, so that no diffraction occurs during fabrication. Creations include single, double, and multiwaveguide splitters and couplers, along with electro-optic modulators, a family of components that can pave the way to densely packed passive optical devices for applications ranging from communication to classical and quantum optical computing.