Ion beam damage assessment and waveguide formation induced by energetic Si-ion irradiation in lanthanum aluminate crystal

Lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3) crystal has emerged as one of the most valuable functional-materials, and its physical, electronic and optical properties strongly depend on the crystal structure, which can be easily altered in an irradiation environment and therefore affect the performance of LaAlO3-based devices. On the other hand, the preparation of LaAlO3 waveguide is also a scientific challenge for its potential application prospects in optoelectronics field. In this work, the damage evolution behavior of LaAlO3 crystal under Si-ion irradiation has been discussed in detail utilizing complementary characterization techniques, and then, single-mode waveguide of LaAlO3 crystal in the visible band can be obtained based on ion-irradiation-induced lattice damage behavior. Waveguide optical-coupling techniques are used to show its competitive features. Thus, novel optical waveguides with optimized features in LaAlO3 crystals can be tailored by a proper selection of ion mass, energy and fluence using the modification of the target material during ion irradiation process.