Telluride buried channel waveguides operating from 6 to 20 μm for photonic applications

• All-telluride buried channel waveguides fabricated by thermal co-evaporation and ion beam etching.
• Light guiding and transmission demonstrated in the whole spectral range from 2 to 20 μm.
• Propagation losses of 6.6 dB/cm obtained at λ = 10 μm.

One of the technological challenges of direct observation of extra-solar planets by nulling interferometry is the development of a modal filter operating from 6 to 20 μm. In the present paper a candidate technology for the fabrication of such modal filters is presented: Integrated Optics. A solution based on all-telluride buried channel waveguides is considered. In the proposed waveguides, vertical guiding of light is achieved by a 15 μm-thick Te83Ge17 core film deposited onto a lower-index Te75Ge15Ga10 substrate, and covered by a 15 μm-thick Te76Ge24 superstrate. Horizontal guiding of light is obtained by modifying the geometry of the core layer by ion beam etching.As this stage, all-telluride buried channel waveguide prototypes demonstrate light guiding and transmission from 2 to 20 μm. The validity of the technology and the good quality of the fabrication process, in particular the input and output facets surface finish are thus confirmed. These results consolidate the potential of Te-based integrated optics components for nulling interferometry.