Photonic devices waveguides

All of the applications involving waveguides discussed in the previous section may be considered passive . The polymer serves some structural, protective, or guiding function but is not integral to the functioning of a device. A number of photonic device applications are available, however, where polymers may be useful as active elements. These applications require some type of nonlinear optical response when the material is irradiated with light of very high intensity, usually from a laser. 

Planar, i.e. rectangular, waveguide components are applied in many photonic devices. They can be easily manufactured at low cost. Typical applications relate to computer backplanes combining electrical and optical cables [87], thermo-optical svdtches [88], optical splitters of multichannel high-density planar lightwave circuits [89], and polyimide-based electro-optical (EO) modulators [90]. 

Development of Polymer Optical Waveguides for Photonic Device Applications... 

KAINO ET AL. Polymer Optical Waveguides Photonic Devices... 

In this piqper, die development of nonlinear optical polymer waveguides directed toward practical photonic devices, i.e., electro-opdcal polymer waveguides and third-order nonlinear optical pdymer waveguides, will be discussed. Hybrid polymer waveguides for future applications will also be presented. 

It is well known that high-quality three-dimensional photonic stmctures, e.g., buried chaimel waveguides, which can be used for laser emissions, have been readily created on transparent laser ceramics, by using irradiations of short-pulse lasers [263-271] and particle beams [272—278]. This process is based on the controlled modification of the refractive index of the electronic processes and thermally induced transformations associated with laser irradiation. Laser writing to create such structures is a one-step process without the requirement of special preparation. It is a very fast, highly reproductive, and thus low-cost process. It has been employed to fabricate various integrated photonic devices. 

By virtue of quadratic power dependence of the TPA process, a tightly focused excitation beam can be used to induce photochemical reactions such as photopolymerization and photoisomerization in three-dimensions with high spatial resolution. As a result, various photonic devices including photonic crystals [125-128], optical data storage systems [129-135], 3-D micro-waveguides [136-138], and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) [139-142] have been fabricated. In addition to this, the two-photon approach can... 

Hasek T, Kurt H, Citrin DS, Koch M (2007) A fluid sensor based on a sub-terahertz photonic crystal waveguide. In Adibi A, Lin S-Y, Scherer A (eds) Photonic crystal materials and devices. Proceedings of SPIE 6480, 648011, San Jose, CA... 

DAMNA) (Figure 1). Frazier et al (6,7) reported the surface polymerization of polydiacetylene films from the photopolymerization of DAMt A monomer solutions. This unique photopolymerization process produces amorphous thin films of polydiacetylene, which can be used in the fabrication of waveguides and photonic devices. However films formed on earth are low quality and have defects that appear to be the result of buoyancy-driven convection. Microgravity experiments on the same system produced very high quality optical films. The lack of in-situ measurements limited the analysis of the effect of gravitational forces on the development of defects in the poyldiacetylene films. 

K. M. (2006) Tailorable polymer waveguides for miniaturized bio-photonic devices via two-polymer microtransfer molding, in Nanoen neering Fabrication, Properties, Optics, and Devices III, Proc. of SPIE, vol. 6327 (eds E.A. Dobisz and... 

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