An athermal arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer relying on an all-polymer approach is reported. The all-polymer AWG consisting of polymer waveguides fabricated on a polymer substrate exhibits excellent performance. By properly adjusting the coefficient of thermal expansion of the polymer substrate, athermal and polarisation-independent AWG devices featuring a wavelength shift of less than +or-0.05 nm in the 25-65 degrees C temperature range could be demonstrated

The current infrastructure of the communication has to be expanded rapidly due to the dramatic increase of data, that is transferred via the internet. The optical network technology is the most suitable technology for this demand. Not only glass ®bres are required, but also a broad range of optical components like splitters, switches and multiplexers, which are usually produced in silica technology. Polymeric materials are becoming more and more interesting for these applications, since they e.g. promise lower power consumption and lower production costs than their silica based pendants. Polycyanurate ester resins are a relatively new class of high-performance polymers with outstanding properties, for example high thermal stability, low optical loss, low dielectric constant, good adhesion and amazing mechanical properties. This paper focuses on the optical loss of such materials at 1550 nm, in the optimisation for use in integrated optics and for the production of embedded waveguides.

No abstract

Cross-linked polymeric materials are used in a wide range of applications. Special compositions are used in micro-system technologies and its utilization is extending to integrated optics. We have been working for several years in the field of polymers for optical applications. Highly fluorinated polycyanurate systems have been proven as promising waveguide materials in integrated optics. The refractive index can be adjusted reproducibly in a wide range almost continuously. The layer quality was optimized. Low optical losses of less than 0.3 dB/cm@1550nm were obtained and working optical prototypes were developed. The birefringence had been a major problem, but this was solved by adjusting the coefficient of thermal expansion of substrate and film. We will report in this paper on the polycyanurate ester resins and the new triazine containing polymeric systems

No abstract