Fabrication and propagation characterization of As2S8 chalcogenide channel waveguide made by UV irradiation annealing.

Changes in the refractive index of amorphous chalcogenide As2S8 films upon ultraviolet (UV) exposure and annealing at different temperatures are investigated in detail, indicating an index contrast of the order of 10(-2) in the As2S8 channel waveguide. An As2S8 channel waveguide is fabricated using UV well irradiation and then annealing near the glass transition temperature and shows a low propagation loss of 0.76 dB/cm and good propagation characterization at the 1310 nm guided mode.