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Tohoku University Technology: Nonlinear Optical Silicate Crystallized Glass: T23-048

Although it is polycrystalline, it has low propagation loss comparable to LiNbO3 (a representative optical material). It exhibits one of the highest optical nonlinearities among glass-based materials.

In optical communication, glass materials are used for optical fibers, while crystalline materials are used for optical wave control elements. When connecting the two, there has been a challenge of reduced reliability due to differences in their physical properties. Currently, lithium niobate (LiNbO3 or LN) single crystals are mainstream optical materials, but when using high-intensity light due to the demand for faster and larger-capacity communication, changes in the refractive index become problematic. The inventors developed a nonlinear optical silicate crystallized glass as a useful material to solve the above issues; however, a significant challenge was that volume shrinkage during synthesis left voids at the center of the fiber, causing light to scatter at those voids. The present invention relates to the production of STS crystallized glass that suppresses the generation of voids and eliminates concerns about light scattering.