Optical waveguides structured with photoaligning polymers

We present a novel fast fabrication method for making optical waveguides by using a photoaligning and a liquid-crystal polymer. A difference in the refractive indices in the core and cladding regions is achieved by use of polarized UV light to align the polymer chains differently. A refractive-index...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOptics letters Vol. 30; no. 11; p. 1333
Main Authors Stump, Andrin, Gubler, Ulrich, Bosshard, Christian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.06.2005
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Summary:We present a novel fast fabrication method for making optical waveguides by using a photoaligning and a liquid-crystal polymer. A difference in the refractive indices in the core and cladding regions is achieved by use of polarized UV light to align the polymer chains differently. A refractive-index difference of Deltan = 0.07 was achieved. The propagation loss in a channel waveguide is 4 dB/cm at a wavelength of 1.55 microm. The fabrication method has only a few processing steps and yields short fabrication times. The waveguide structures offer possibilities for generating devices with new applications related to the polarization of the guided light.
ISSN:0146-9592
DOI:10.1364/OL.30.001333