Waveguide shape control and loss properties of light-induced self-written (LISW) optical waveguides
- 10 December 2002
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in Journal of Lightwave Technology
- Vol. 20 (8) , 1556-1562
- https://doi.org/10.1109/jlt.2002.800810
Abstract
We show the feasibility of automatic waveguide formation by means of the self-trapping effect of multimode optical fiber irradiation into a photopolymerizing resin. By using a graded-index multimode optical fiber, we experimentally obtained a straight waveguide of over 20 mm in length. It is shown that its growth properties, such as waveguide shape and diameter, depend on the propagation modal distribution along the optical fiber used for the waveguide formation. Moreover, an all-solid polymer optical waveguide that relies on the selective photopolymerization proceeding into the photopolymerizing resin mixture is also demonstrated. We call this type of waveguide a light-induced self-written optical waveguide. The measured propagation loss in the waveguide is 1.0 dB/cm or less for the wavelength range 0.8/spl sim/1.0 /spl mu/m. The proposed technology is capable of eliminating both costly lenses and the need for an alignment system from optical waveguide devices.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Light-induced self-written three-dimensional optical waveguideApplied Physics Letters, 2001
- Fixing multiple waveguides induced by photorefractive solitons: directional couplers and beam splitters.Optics Letters, 2001
- Optically-induced growth of fiber patterns into a photopolymerizable resinApplied Physics Letters, 1999
- Optical channel waveguides formed by upconverted photobleaching of dye-doped polymer film in regime of dark spatial solitonOptics Communications, 1999
- Multimode polymeric waveguide devices fabricatedbytwo-component injection mouldingElectronics Letters, 1997
- Investigation of waveguide growth in photosensitive germanosilicate glassJournal of the Optical Society of America B, 1996
- Self-focusing and self-trapping of optical beams upon photopolymerizationOptics Letters, 1996
- Light-induced optical waveguide uptapersOptics Letters, 1993
- Graded index linear and curved polymer channel waveguide arrays for massively parallel optical interconnectsApplied Physics Letters, 1992
- Self-Trapping of Optical BeamsPhysical Review Letters, 1964