Silica layers produced by the sol-gel method as dielectric masks in ion exchange processes

This paper presents experimental results produced by the sol-gel method silica layers usage as dielectric masks in ion exchange processes in producing stripe waveguides. Such layers were produced on the glass substrate (soda-lime glass) by the dip-coating method. Their thicknesses gained during single deposit on the substrate were in the range of 78÷150nm. Those layers had the compactness comparable to thermal silica. The Ag⁺↔Na⁺ ion exchange processes with the use of AgNO₃/NaNO₃ solution with the mole fraction of κ_Ag=0.0025 were completed. The permeability of the layers for dopant ions (Ag⁺) depending on the thickness of the layer and the diffusion time was tested.