Low-loss waveguides on Y-cut thin film lithium niobate: towards acousto-optic applications

We investigate the dependence of photonic waveguide propagation loss on the thickness of the buried oxide layer in Y-cut lithium niobate on insulator substrate to identify trade-offs between optical losses and electromechanical coupling of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices for acousto-optic applications. Simulations show that a thicker oxide layer reduces the waveguide loss but lowers the electromechanical coupling coefficient of the SAW device. Optical racetrack resonators with different lengths were fabricated by argon plasma etching to experimentally extract waveguide losses. By increasing the thickness of the oxide layer from 1 {\mu}m to 2 {\mu}m, propagation loss of 2 {\mu}m (1 {\mu}m) wide waveguide was reduced from 1.85 dB/cm (3 dB/cm) to as low as 0.37 dB/cm (0.77 dB/cm), and, resonators with quality factor greater than 1 million were demonstrated. An oxide thickness of approximately 1.5 {\mu}m is sufficient to significantly reduce propagation loss due to leakage into the substrate and simultaneously attain good electromechanical coupling in acoustic devices. This work not only provides insights on the design and realization of low-loss photonic waveguides in lithium niobate, but most importantly offers experimental evidence on how the oxide thickness directly impacts losses and guides its selection for the synthesis of high-performance acousto-optic devices in Y-cut lithium niobate on insulator.