Optical damage resistance of monovalent ion diffused LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 waveguides

We report measurements of the zero field photorefractive sensitivity (optical damage) of waveguides fabricated by silver ion exchange in both LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 and of LiNbO3 :Ti guides diffused in the presence of H20. Marked differences in the photorefractive sensitivity are found for the different fabrication proceseses. In particular, LiNbO3 :Ti guides diffused in the presence of H20 were significantly less susceptible to optical damage than those diffused in a dry atmosphere, and no index changes were observed in LiTaO3 :Ag waveguides for exposures up to 105 J/cm2 at 4579 Å.