Fast fabrication of polymer out-of-plane optical coupler by gray-scale lithography (original) (raw)
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Applied Optics, 2007
Optical interconnects can provide chip-to-chip data communication with much needed bandwidth as processor speed and density keep growing. Optical waveguides and couplers are essential components for implementing optical interconnections. Techniques for directly dispensing polymer waveguides in laserablated trenches on printed circuit boards and for fabricating optical couplers are presented for quick prototype of optical interconnects. High-quality UV curable polymer waveguides were routinely fabricated. High-efficiency couplers, blazed grating couplers on sloped waveguides, sloped facet metal film couplers, and reflective-undercut facet couplers can be fabricated by using excimer laser ablation.
2004
In this communication, the fabrication and characterization results of O/E-PWBs comprising multimode polymer waveguides with optical-I/O-coupling facets are presented. The epoxy-based glycidyl ether derivative of bisphenol-A novolac (SU-8) and its refractive index modified grade (L6100) polymers are used as the optical waveguide core and the cladding, respectively. The waveguides with integrated 45° out-of-plane turning micromirrors are fabricated using ultraviolet (UV) lithography. The surface topography and sloping angle characterization using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that 45-degree nearly rectilinear mirror planes were achieved. Parallel waveguide channels with the total-internal-reflection (TIR) are fabricated as an optical-build-up layer on conventional PWBs for functional evaluation. The waveguide transmission loss of the guides with and without the mirror facets is measured using the cut-hack method.
International Journal of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, 2021
Manufacturing of Y-branch coupler depends on high technology production equipment and in-factory accuracy assembly tools. The manufacturing of a 1×2 Y-branch symmetric and asymmetric waveguide coupler based on the mould replication process and Epoxy OG142 as an optical core is presented; an alternative to provide a less complex technique. The polymer optical waveguide adopted two basic designs: the 1×2 Y-branch symmetric coupler as the core structure and the 1×2 asymmetric coupler that allows non-symmetric optical splitting. This paper focused on the main structure fabrication of the 1×2 symmetric and asymmetric waveguide coupler that produces a power output. The fabrication was done by engraving acrylic to produce a master mould using CNC machining tools for optical devices. Both 1×2 devices were made via soft lithography, which duplicated the pattern from the master mould onto a second mould to produce an actual device. Optical polymer epoxy OG142 was injected into the second moul...
Advances in polymer integrated optics
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 2000
We report on advances in polymeric waveguide technologies developed worldwide for the telecom and datacom markets, and we describe in detail one such technology developed at AlliedSignal. Optical polymers are versatile materials that can be readily formed into planar single-mode, multimode, and microoptical waveguide structures ranging in dimensions from under a micrometer to several hundred micrometers. These materials can be thermoplastics, thermosets, or photopolymers, and the starting formulations are typically either polymers or oligomers in solution or liquid monomers. Transmission losses in polymers can be minimized, typically by halogenation, with state-of-the-art loss values being about 0.01 dB/cm at 840 nm and about 0.1 dB/cm at 1550 nm. A number of polymers have been shown to exhibit excellent environmental stability and have demonstrated capability in a variety of demanding applications. Waveguides can be formed by direct photolithography, reactive ion etching, laser ablation, molding, or embossing. Well-developed adhesion schemes permit the use of polymers on a wide range of rigid and flexible substrates. Integrated optical devices fabricated to date include numerous passive and active elements that achieve a variety of coupling, routing, filtering, and switching functions.
Discrete Out-of-Plane Coupling Components for Printed Circuit Board-Level Optical Interconnections
IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 2000
We propose discrete out-of-plane coupling components as a versatile alternative to current approaches used to couple light in and out of the propagation plane in waveguide-based printed circuit board (PCB)-level optical interconnections. The out-of-plane couplers feature a 45 micromirror and are fabricated using deep proton writing as a rapid prototyping technology. Their fabrication is compatible with replication techniques and shows all the potential of low-cost mass fabrication. In a first configuration, we use the component in a fiber-to-fiber coupling scheme. Coupling losses as small as 0.77 dB were achieved. In a second configuration, the out-of-plane coupler is plugged into a laser ablated cavity in optical waveguides integrated on a PCB. Here a total link loss between out-of-plane fiber and in-plane fiber of 3.00 dB was achieved when using it at the transmitter side and 5.69 dB when using it at the receiver side.
Novel, Fast and Flexible Methods for Fabrication of Polymer-based Optical Waveguides
2005
In this work we demonstrate how to utilize conventional polymer fabrication methods to produce optical waveguides integrated into microsystems entirely fabricated in polymers. Instead of using expensive and time consuming cleanroom processes, our principles allow easy implementation into existing designs, compatibility to mass fabrication techniques, and the possibility of quickly changing the design. The waveguides produced with these methods show propagation losses as low as 1 dB/cm over a wide wavelength range from 850 nm down to 400 nm.
Applied Optics, 1997
Recently, polymeric multimode optical waveguides have been widely studied for low-cost interconnection use. We describe fabrication processes for a low-loss poly͑methyl methacrylate͒ ͑less than 0.1 dB͞cm at 675 nm͒ waveguide based on the reactive-ion-etching technique and for a slope ͑45°mirror face͒ formed on the waveguide. To obtain a ridge core with a crack-free and extremely smooth surface, we applied a heating process at a temperature greater than the glass transition point and a smoothening process by solvent. Furthermore, to fabricate simultaneously both vertical and sloped sidewalls, we applied a unique phenomenon in the process that decreases the etching rate directly under a narrow opening of etching mask. By using the above fabrication techniques, we demonstrated an out-of-plane branching mirror.
Efficient Coupling into Polymer Waveguides by Gratings
Applied Optics, 1997
Investigations of highly efficient grating couplers for polymer slab and strip waveguides fabricated by electron-beam lithography are reported. A maximum input efficiency of 67% is achieved. The electronbeam direct-writing technique allows one to replicate the original gratings into polymer substrates by embossing. An all-polymeric optical chip with efficient grating couplers is demonstrated. Waveguide grating couplers with blazed profile and variable grating depth are investigated. Thus, the intensity distribution of the outcoupled light is matched to a Gaussian-like profile. A focusing blazed grating that couples the light with an efficiency of 42% into a polymer strip waveguide is reported. A curvature correction of the grating lines allows one to improve the focusing properties.
Soft lithography molding of polymer integrated optical devices: Reduction of the background residue
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures, 2004
Soft lithography molding is a promising technique for patterning polymer integrated optical devices, however the presence of a background residue has the potential to limit the usefulness of this technique. We present the soft lithography technique for fabricating polymer waveguides. Several effects of the background residue are investigated numerically, including the modal properties of an individual waveguide, the coupling ratio of a directional coupler, and the radiation loss in a waveguide bend. Experimentally, the residue is found to be reduced through dilution of the core polymer solution. We find that the force with which the soft mold is depressed on the substrate does not appreciably affect the waveguide thickness or the residue thickness. Optical microscope images show that the residue is thinnest next to the waveguide.