New Type of Y-junction Hybrid Polymer Waveguide Couplers

Optical couplers are the key components for signal distribution in optoelectronic transmitters and receivers. A new low-loss, large-angle Y-junction hybrid polymer optical coupler with an integrated microprism has been fabricated and demonstrated experimentally for use in a mixed-signal module environment. The results show that the radiation loss is small with relatively wide branching angle as compared to a conventional Y-junction coupler.

All polymer asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer waveguide sensor by imprinting bonding and laser polishing

We present an all polymer asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer （AMZI） waveguide sensor based on imprinting bonding and laser polishing method. The fabrication methods are compatible with high accuracy waveguide sensing structure. The rectangle waveguide structure of this sensor has three sensing surfaces contacting the test media, and its sensing accuracy can be increased 5 times compared with that of one surface sensing structure. An AMZI device structure is designed. The single mode condition, the length of the sensing arm, and the length deviation between the sensing arm and the reference arm are optimized. The length deviation is optimized to be 19.8 μm in a refractive index range between 1.470 and 1.545. We fabricate the AMZI waveguide by lithography and wet etching method. The imprinting bonding and laser polishing method is proposed and investigated. The insertion loss is between-80.36 dB and-10.63 dB. The average and linear sensitivity are 768.1 dB/RIU and 548.95 dB/RIU, respectively. And the average and linear detection resolution of the sensor are 1.3010-6 RIU （RIU：refractive index unit） and 1.8210-5 RIU, respectively. This sensor has a fast and cost-effective fabrication process which can be used in the cases of requiring portability and disposability.

Optimal Design of 850nm 2 × 2 Multimode Interference Polymer Waveguide Coupler by Imprint Technique

A 2 × 2 optical waveguide coupler at 850 nm based on the multimode interference （MMI） structure with the polysilsesquioxanes liquid series （PSQ-Ls） polymer material and the imprint technique is presented. The influence of the structural parameters, such as the single mode condition, the waveguide spacing of input/output ports, and the width and length of the multimode waveguide, on the optical splitting performance including the excess loss and the uniformity is simulated by the beam propagation method. By inserting a taper section of isosceles trapezoid between the single mode and multimode waveguides, the optimized structural parameters for low excess loss and high uniformity are obtained with the excess loss of -0.040 dB and the uniformity of-0.007 dB. The effect of the structure deviations induced during the imprint process on the optical splitting performance at different residual layer thicknesses is also investigated. The analysis results provide useful instructions for the waveguide device fabrication.

Tunable wavelength filters using polymer long-period waveguide gratings based on metal-cladding directly defined technique

In this work, long-period waveguide grating-based tunable wavelength filters using organic–inorganic grafting poly（methyl methacrylate）（PMMA） materials are designed and fabricated by metal-cladding directly defined technique.The thermal stabilities and optical properties of the organic–inorganic grafting PMMA core materials are analyzed. Structures and performance parameters of the waveguide gratings and self-electrode heaters are designed and simulated. The contrast of the filter is about 15 d B and the resonant wavelength can be tuned by different electric powers applied to the metal-cladding self-electrode heaters. The temperature sensitivity is 3.5 nm/℃ and the switching time is about 1 ms. The technique is very suitable for realizing the optoelectronic integrated wavelength-division-multiplexing systems.

FLUORINATED PHTHALAZINONE-CONTAINING COPOLYIMIDES FOR PASSIVE OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES

A series of fluorinated copolyimides containing phthalazinone moieties were prepared from 2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane dianhydride(6FDA),3,3'4,4'-benzophenone-tetracarboxylic dianhydride(BPDA)and2-(4-aminophenyl)-4-[4-(4-aminophenoxyl)phenyl]-2,3-phthalazin-1-one(DHPZ-2NH_2)for making polymeric opticalwaveguides.The resulting copolymers containing 0-50 mo1% BPDA/DHPZ-2NH_2 show good solubility and are soluble insome organic polar aprotic solvents.The copolyimides also present excellent thermal stability.These polymers possess highglass transition temperature higher than 603 K and high decomposition temperature above 742 K determined by differentialscanning calorimetry and thennogravimetric analysis,respectively,under a nitrogen atmosphere.Their refractive indicescould be controlled by varying the ratio of 6FDA and BPDA in the copolymer from 0.5 to 1.0,and the in-plane refractiveindices(n_(TE))range from 1.6366 to 1.6668 and the out-of-plane refractive indices(n_(TM))from 1.6024 to 1.6280 at 632.8 nm.The polymers birefringence(0.0342-0.0388)is almost independent of the 6FDA content of copolymer,which indicated thatthe phthalazinone-containing copolyimides could be suitable to fabricate optical waveguides possessing a low polarizationdependent loss(PDL).

A strategy for preparing broadband polymer based optical waveguide amplifiers:doping low crystal field symmetric nanocrystals in polymer matrix as gain media

Optical waveguide amplifiers are essential devices in integrated optical systems,with their gain bandwidths directly influencing the operating wavelengths of optical circuits.Previous Er^(3+)-doped polymer optical waveguide amplifiers have been limited to amplifying signals within the C-band.To achieve broadband polymer optical waveguide amplification,we propose the use of nanocrystals with low crystal field symmetry to extend the working bandwidth.Our approach utilizes LiYF_(4):Yb,Er nanoparticles embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate)as the gain medium,enabling signal amplification from most of the S-band to the whole(C+L)band.The low crystal field symmetry of the LiYF_(4)host significantly splits the^(4)I_(13/2)and^(4)I_(15/2)levels of Er^(3+)ions owing to the crystal field effect,facilitating broadband down-conversion luminescence under 980-nm excitation.Furthermore,a fluorescence kinetic analysis confirms that the broadband luminescence of Er^(3+)arises from significant energy-level splitting caused by the crystal field effect.Under 980-nm excitation,the amplifiers exhibited relative gains of approximately 12.6 dB at 1535 nm,7.4 dB at 1480 nm,and 3.7 dB at 1610 nm.The Er^(3+)-doped broadband polymer optical waveguide amplifier was successfully prepared.

Low-Cost and Highly Sensitive Liquid Refractive Index Sensor Based on Polymer Horizontal Slot Waveguide

We analyze and explore the potential of using a polymer horizontal slot waveguide as light-analyte interactive region to implement a low-cost and highly sensitive liquid refractive index sensor.Numerical analysis shows that the optimized polymer horizontal slot waveguide is able to realize high waveguide sensitivity.With the optimized horizontal slot waveguide,polymer liquid refractive index sensors based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer(MZI)and microring resonator(MRR)are then investigated numerically,and the results show that the MZI-based sensor can achieve high sensitivity of 17024 nm/RIU and low limit of detection(LOD)of 1.76´10^(-6) RIU while the MRR-based sensor can achieve the sensitivity of 177 nm/RIU and the LOD of 1.69´10^(-4) RIU with a very small footprint.Compared with the sensors employing conventional silicon or silicon nitride vertical slot waveguide,the sensors employing polymer horizontal slot waveguide exhibit comparable performances but simpler and lower fabrication costs.

Cross-cascaded AWG-based wavelength selective switching integrated module using polymer optical waveguide circuits

100-GHz cross-cascaded arrayed waveguide gratings （AWGs）-based wavelength selective optical switching optical cross-connects （OXCs） modules with Mach-Zehnder interferometer （MZI） thermo-optic （TO） variable optical attenuator （VOA） arrays and optical true- time-delay （TTD） line arrays is successfully designed and fabricated using polymer photonic lightwave circuit. Highly fluorinated photopolymer and grafting modified organic-inorganic hybrid material were synthesized as the waveguide core and cladding, respectively. The one-chip transmission loss is -6 dB and the crosstalk is less than -30 dB for the transverse-magnetic （TM） mode. The actual maximum modulation depths of different thermo-optic switches are similar, -15.5 dB with 1.9 V bias. The maximum power consumption of a single switch is less than 10 mW. The delay time basic increments are measured from 140 to 20 ps. Proposed novel module is flexible and scalable for the dense wavelength division multiplexing network.

Vertically Integrated Thermo-Optic Waveguide Switch Using Optical Polymers

We propose and fabricate a vertically integrated thermo-optic waveguide switch. It controls the optical path between two vertically stacked waveguides using the thermo-optic effect of optical polymer. The measured crosstalk is less than -10 dB.

Fast response 2×2 thermo-optic switch with polymer/silica hybrid waveguide

A polymer/silica hybrid 2×2 multimode-interference switch is designed and fabricated. Instead of polymer Mach-Zehnder interferometer thermo-optic （TO） silica is used as under-cladding to accelerate heat release because of its large thermal conductivity. The developed switch exhibits low power consumption of 6.2 mW, low crosstalk of about 28 dB, and short response time. The rise and fall times of 103 and 91 its for this hybrid switch are shortened by 40.8% and 52.4%, respectively, compared with those of the fabricated TO switch （174 and 191 μs） using polymer as both upper- and under-claddings.

Polymers in Waveguide Packaging

Polymers were successfully used in the packaging of waveguide-based photonic components in the area of fiber-to-waveguide coupling, waveguide die attachment, strain relief, and waveguide encapsulation. The application results of these polymers were described in this paper.

Surface morphology of refractive-index waveguide gratings fabricated in polymer films

The characteristic modifications are reported on the surface of polymeric waveguide film in the process of vol- ume-grating fabrication. The light from a mode-locked 76 MHz femtosecond laser with pulse duration of 200 fs and wavelength of 800 nm is focused normal to the surface of the sample. The surface morphology modifications are as- cribed to a fact that surface swelling occurs during the process. Periodic micro-structure is inscribed with increasing incident power. The laser-induced swelling threshold on the grating, which is higher than that of two-photon initiated photo-polymerization （TPIP） （8 mW）, is verified to be about 20 mW. It is feasible to enhance the surface smoothness of integrated optics devices for further encapsulation. The variation of modulation depth is studied for different values of incident power and scan spacing. Ablation accompanied with surface swelling appears when the power is higher. By ootimizing the laser carvinR oararneters, hizhly efficient grating devices can be fabricated.

Novel elastomeric spiropyran‑doped poly(dimethylsiloxane)optical waveguide for UV sensing

Novel poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS)doped with two diferent spiropyran derivatives(SP)were investigated as potential candidates for the preparation of elastomeric waveguides with UV-dependent optical properties.First,free-standing flms were prepared and evaluated with respect to their photochromic response to UV irradiation.Kinetics,reversibility as well as photofatigue and refractive index of the SP-doped PDMS samples were assessed.Second,SP-doped PDMS waveguides were fabricated and tested as UV sensors by monitoring changes in the transmitted optical power of a visible laser(633 nm).UV sensing was successfully demonstrated by doping PDMS using one spiropyran derivative whose propagation loss was measured as 1.04 dB/cm at 633 nm,and sensitivity estimated at 115%change in transmitted optical power per unit change in UV dose.The decay and recovery time constants were measured at 42 and 107 s,respectively,with an average UV saturation dose of 0.4 J/cm2.The prepared waveguides exhibited a reversible and consistent response even under bending.The sensor parameters can be tailored by varying the waveguide length up to 21 cm,and are afected by white light and temperatures up to 70℃.This work is relevant to elastomeric optics,smart optical materials,and polymer optical waveguide sensors.

Sensitivity improvement of broadband electro-optic polymer-based optical phase modulator using 1D and 2D photonic crystal structures

This Letter introduces the design and simulation of a microstrip-line-based electro-optic （EO） polymer optical phase modulator （PM） that is further enhanced by the addition of photonic crystal （PhC） structures that are in close proximity to the optical core. The slow-wave PhC structure is designed for two different material configurations and placed in the modulator as a superstrate to the optical core; simulation results are depicted for both 1D and 2D PhC structures. The PM characteristics are modeled using a combination of the finite element method and the optical beam propagation method in both the RF and optical domains, respectively. The phase-shift simulation results show a factor of 1.7 increase in an effective EO coefficient （120 pm/V） while maintaining a broadband bandwidth of 40 GHz.