Effects of germanium content on sol-gel GeO₂/γ- glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane hybrid planar waveguides prepared at low temperature

The influence of germanium on the structural and optical properties of GeO₂/γ-glycidoxypropyltri-methoxysilane hybrid planar waveguides was investigated. The planar waveguides were processed using the sol-gel method and were used for the optical waveguide applications. The prism coupling technique, atomic force microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, UV-visible spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to investigate the refractive index, thickness, and transparency of the waveguides. It was observed that the film thickness was decreased and the refractive index was increased with an increase in GeO₂ content.