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Optical interconnects can provide chip-to-chip data communication with much needed bandwidth as processor speed and density keep growing. Optical waveguides and couplers are essential components for implementing optical interconnections. Techniques for directly dispensing polymer waveguides in laser-ablated trenches on printed circuit boards and for fabricating optical couplers are presented for quick prototype of optical interconnects. High-quality UV curable polymer waveguides were routinely fabricated. High-efficiency couplers, blazed grating couplers on sloped waveguides, sloped facet metal film couplers, and reflective-undercut facet couplers can be fabricated by using excimer laser ablation.

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The structural and optical properties of the gel-forming photochromic switch 1,2-bis(2’-methyl-5’-{{((R) phenylethyl)amino}carbonyl}thienyl-3’-yl)cyclopentene are studied by means of the linear absorption and holographic grating techniques. The use of diffractive optics enables recording of holographic gratings with high long-term phase stability. The diffraction efficiency of the recorded holographic gratings approach values of 30% for low writing beam energies when diffusion is the rate determining factor. At higher writing pulse energies the competition between the diffusion and photodecomposition processes causes lower diffraction efficiencies. At irradiation doses above 10 mJ the spatial profile of the recorded gratings is strongly influenced by saturation effects. Because of the well-determined grating profile the holographic grating technique is potentially applicable for the quantitative characterisation of the diffusion process in photochromic gels.

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