Low loss, long time stable sol–gel derived silica–titania waveguide films

Abstract Silica–titania waveguide films were fabricated via the sol–gel method using dip-coating technique. Chemical uniformity, surface morphology, thickness and refractive index as well as optical transmission losses were investigated. The investigations show, that fabricated silica–titania waveguide films of high refractive index (~1.8) are uniform, very smooth (rms~0.298 nm) and exhibit ultra low optical transmission losses (below 0.2 dB/cm), constancy through over five years.