Sol-Gel Glass Waveguides

Sol-gel processes show many promises for the development of low-loss, high-performance glass integrated optical circuits. Special attention is being paid to the preparation of composite glass films, where the properties of organic or inorganic dopant compounds included in the glass matrix are fully exploited. Nonlinear optical glass film waveguides have the potential to become key devices in the future, leading to further technical advances of fiber optic communication systems. This paper briefly reviews current activities in sol-gel glasses for integrated optics, with particular focus on silica-titania and semiconductor-doped films.