Grinding free electric-field poling of Ti indiffused z-cut LiNbO3 wafer with submicron resolution

Electric-field domain inversion cannot be performed in z-cut LiNbO3 after waveguide fabrication using common Ti-indiffusion techniques. In this work we show that an appropriate combination of low indiffusion temperature, dry O2 and Li enriched atmosphere during waveguide fabrication allows subsequent domain inversion without the need for any surface grinding, which would dramatically increase the risk of LiNbO3 substrate breakage during its processing. The proposed technique allows a simplified, robust and high yield processing over full wafer scale (up to 4'') with sub-micron resolution. (orig.)