Title :
A monolithic PDMS waveguide system fabricated using soft-lithography techniques
Author :
Chang-Yen, David A. ; Eich, Richard K. ; Gale, Bruce K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mech. Eng., Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
fDate :
6/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A monolithic waveguide system using poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) was designed, fabricated, and characterized. The waveguide demonstrated good confinement of light and relatively low attenuation at 0.40 dB/cm. The robustness and handling properties of the completed waveguides were excellent, and the process yield exceeded 96%. The waveguide did exhibit moderate temperature and humidity sensitivity but no temporal variation, and insertion loss remained stable over extended periods of time. Applications of this waveguide system in microscale sensing are immense, judging by the frequency of use of PDMS as the substrate for microfluidic and biomedical systems. The monolithic nature of the waveguides also reduces their cost and allows integration of optical pathways into existing PDMS-based microsystems.
Keywords :
integrated optics; micro-optics; optical design techniques; optical fabrication; optical losses; optical polymers; optical waveguides; soft lithography; PDMS-based microsystems; attenuation; biomedical systems; humidity sensitivity; insertion loss; light confinement; microfluidic systems; microscale sensing; monolithic PDMS waveguide system; optical pathways integration; poly(dimethylsiloxane); soft-lithography techniques; waveguide design; waveguide fabrication; Costs; Frequency; Humidity; Insertion loss; Microfluidics; Optical attenuators; Optical losses; Optical waveguides; Robustness; Temperature sensors; Micro-total-analysis systems; poly(dimethyl siloxane); soft lithography; waveguide;
Journal_Title :
Lightwave Technology, Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JLT.2005.849932
