45° polymer-based total internal reflection coupling mirrors for fully embedded intraboard guided wave optical interconnects

Abstract
An array of 50μm×50μm polymer waveguides with 45° total internal reflection (TIR) wideband coupling mirrors were fabricated by soft molding to achieve fully embedded boardlevel optoelectronic interconnects. The 45° TIR coupling mirrors were formed at the ends of the waveguides to provide surface normal light coupling between waveguides and optoelectronic devices. Three-dimensional optoelectronic interconnects were replicated in one-step transfer by the soft molding technique. The measured propagation loss of the multimode waveguide was 0.16dB∕cm at 850nm wavelength. The coupling efficiency of the silver-coated 45° micromirrors buried under the top cladding was 92% with low polarization sensitivity.