No abstract

As the use of fibre optic networks increases in telecoms, datacoms, avionic and automotive areas, there will be increased demand for passive optical components, such as splitters, combiners, multiplexers and demultiplexers. However, for widespread application, fibre networks must be economically attractive in comparison with alternative solutions and so these passive components must be available at low cost. Polymer device fabrication techniques offer the potential to achieve these low cost targets and so are receiving increasing interest.