Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) Waveguides for Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Sensing

In this paper, we report on the fabrication and experimental verification of waveguide structures for electromagnetic pulse (EMP) sensing. The waveguides were realized in z-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO
₃
) using the e-beam and photolithographic technique followed by reactive-ion-etching processes. Channel structures with the width of 1 μm were etched and, after backfilling of the etched channels with amorphous silicon (a-Si), resulted in a single-mode waveguide structure for operation at 1550 nm. The fabricated devices have successfully measured both the peak field strength and the temporal pulse shape of a range of EMPs.