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Polarizability, Volume Expansion and Stress Contributions to the Refractive Index Change of Cu+-Na+ Ion Exchanged Waveguides in Glass

Copper ion exchanged waveguides in glass have received widespread interest since they can show luminescent and non-linear optical properties and hence have potential in future optical devices. This paper presents a systematic study of the contributions made by various physical effects to the refractive index increase of copper ion exchanged glass. It challenges previously established work on the relative contribution of these physical effects and shows for the first time that polarizability differences alone cannot account for the observed index changes.