A new method for producing graded index PMMA waveguides

Author

White, V. ; Ghodssi, R. ; Fish, G. ; Herdey, C. ; Liu, H. ; Denton, D.D. ; McCaughan, L.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI, USA

Volume

7

Issue

7

fYear

1995

fDate

7/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

772

Lastpage

773

Abstract

We report a new method for producing graded index polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) waveguides using optical densification by angled X-ray exposure. The resulting larger refractive index near the surface of the waveguide serves to better isolate the guided light from potentially absorbing or scattering substrates than in waveguides of constant refractive index. We calculate that a 65/spl deg/ angle exposure in 6-μm-thick planar PMMA waveguide shifts the peak of the fundamental mode profile /spl sim/0.5 μm away from the substrate. Consistent with this result, we measure a reduction in the propagation loss of PMMA planar waveguides on a Ni substrate from 1.5 dB/cm to 0.5 dB/cm after angle X-ray exposure.

Keywords

X-ray effects; gradient index optics; optical fabrication; optical losses; optical planar waveguides; optical polymers; refractive index; Ni; Ni substrate; absorbing substrates; angled X-ray exposure; fundamental mode; graded index PMMA planar waveguides; optical densification; polymethyl methacrylate; propagation loss; refractive index; scattering substrates; Light scattering; Optical refraction; Optical scattering; Optical surface waves; Optical variables control; Optical waveguides; Planar waveguides; Refractive index; Surface waves; X-ray scattering;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.393201

Filename

393201