Advances in polymer optical devices and waveguide fabrication techniques

Warren N. Herman; Wei-Yen Chen; Younggu Kim; Glenn Hutchinson; Wei Lou Cao; Yongzhang Leng; Victor Yun; Hongye Liang; Yi-Hsing Peng; Min Du; Lisa Lucas; Ping-Tong Ho; Julius Goldhar; Chi H. Lee

doi:10.1117/12.560029

15 October 2004 Advances in polymer optical devices and waveguide fabrication techniques

Warren N. Herman, Wei-Yen Chen, Younggu Kim, Glenn Hutchinson, Wei Lou Cao, Yongzhang Leng, Victor Yun, Hongye Liang, Yi-Hsing Peng, Min Du, Lisa Lucas, Ping-Tong Ho, Julius Goldhar, Chi H. Lee

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5517, Linear and Nonlinear Optics of Organic Materials IV; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.560029
Event: Optical Science and Technology, the SPIE 49th Annual Meeting, 2004, Denver, Colorado, United States

Abstract

We report progress in the development of polymer waveguides and devices for photonic applications in three areas: non-photolithographic techniques for polymer waveguide fabrication, bistability in laterally-coupled polymer microring resonators, and ultrafast photoconductive switches fabricated from semiconducting polymers. The non-photolithographic techniques for waveguide fabrication under development include laser milling with an excimer laser and programmable automatic dispensing of multimode polymer waveguides using an Essemtech automatic dispenser. Asymmetric diffraction gratings fabricated using phase masks and the interference of two excimer laser beams have exhibited concentration of optical power into the 1st diffraction order. Polymer micro-ring resonators laterally coupled to a bus line were fabricated by lithography from benzocyclobutene with radii as small as 10 μm and free spectral ranges on the order of 20 nm. These devices exhibit bistability in the frequency domain which can arise from thermal or nonlinear optical changes in refractive index and that may have application for all-optical switching. Metal-polymer-metal switches fabricated with interdigitated electrodes in an inverted structure exhibited fast transient photoconductive pulsewidths under 20 ps in response to femtosecond pump laser pulses, but the measurement was bandwidth limited by the oscilloscope. Here we report pump-probe measurements that indicate carrier lifetimes on the order of 2 ps.

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Warren N. Herman, Wei-Yen Chen, Younggu Kim, Glenn Hutchinson, Wei Lou Cao, Yongzhang Leng, Victor Yun, Hongye Liang, Yi-Hsing Peng, Min Du, Lisa Lucas, Ping-Tong Ho, Julius Goldhar, and Chi H. Lee "Advances in polymer optical devices and waveguide fabrication techniques", Proc. SPIE 5517, Linear and Nonlinear Optics of Organic Materials IV, (15 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.560029

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