Polymer waveguide module for visible wavelength division multiplexing plastic optical fiber communication

We report a polymer waveguide module that provides bidirectional communication over a single plastic optical fiber (POF) with dual visible wavelength LEDs. The module is constructed using light-induced self-written waveguides, which enables a three-dimensional optical circuit for visible wavelength division multiplexing to be fabricated by an extremely simple process. We demonstrated $250\mathrm{Mbits}∕\mathrm{s}$ communication using a pair of these modules that each contained one green $(\lambda =495\mathrm{nm})$ and one red $(\lambda =650\mathrm{nm})$ LEDs by measuring the bit error rates. The results indicate that the system could transmit over more than $20\mathrm{m}$ of POF in full duplex mode.