Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the research in a project aimed at developing manufacturing techniques for integrated optical and electronic interconnect printed circuit boards (OPCB) including the motivation for this research, the progress, the achievements and the interactions between the partners. Design/methodology/approach -Several polymer waveguide fabrication methods were developed including direct laser write, laser ablation and inkjet printing. Polymer formulations were developed to suit the fabrication methods. Computer-aided design (CAD) tools were developed and waveguide layout design rules were established. The CAD tools were used to lay out a complex backplane interconnect pattern to meet practical demanding specifications for use in a system demonstrator. Findings -Novel polymer formulations for polyacrylate enable faster writing times for laser direct write fabrication. Control of the fabrication parameters enables inkjet printing of polysiloxane waveguides. Several different laser systems can be used to form waveguide structures by ablation. Establishment of waveguide layout design rules from experimental measurements and modelling enables successful first time layout of complex interconnection patterns.Research limitations/implications -The complexity and length of the waveguides in a complex backplane interconnect, beyond that achieved in this paper, is limited by the bend loss and by the propagation loss partially caused by waveguide sidewall roughness, so further research in these areas would be beneficial to give a wider range of applicability. Originality/value -The paper gives an overview of advances in polymer formulation, fabrication methods and CAD tools, for manufacturing of complex hybrid-integrated OPCBs.

In this paper we describe a system that measures the attenuation and isolation of optical waveguides and has the capability to fully explore these properties over a range of reproducible launch conditions. The system allows both the launch signal spot size and numerical aperture to be varied and can be correlated to the actual operating conditions of the board. Characterization of the optical system, including the magnification factor as well as the linearity, sensitivity, spatial uniformity of the charge-coupled device cameras, is shown. Initial results from a variety of waveguides, including planar, radii, and crossover designs, are discussed and an assessment of the key uncertainty contributions of the system is presented.

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Polymer planar optical waveguides fabricated onto electrical printed circuit boards are an emerging technology to provide high-speed communications on computer backplanes. Along with the key parameters of attenuation and isolation, the variable launch system developed at NPL can now be used to measure the transmitted scatter profile of optical printed circuit boards (OPCBs) in order to explore the relationship between launch condition, waveguide and end-face quality. In this paper we describe the modifications to the existing NPL system and measurements of the far-field intensity profiles of a group of reference waveguides using a variety of spot sizes and numerical apertures.

The Euramet.PR-K2.a comparison on spectral responsivity for the wavelength range 900 nm to 1600 nm, as described in this report, was carried out to establish the degree of equivalence for the participating European laboratories with respect to the Key Comparison Reference Value (KCRV) of the CCPR-K2.a-2003 comparison. Seven laboratories, including pilot and link laboratory, participated. The comparison was piloted by VSL (Netherlands). Both VSL and NPL (UK) act as link laboratories to the CCPR-K2.a-2003 comparison. Most laboratories show a DoE within 1 % from the CCPR KCRV for almost the full wavelength range, with some slightly larger differences mostly above 1450 nm. One laboratory shows larger deviations, up to 3%. This report provides an overview of the comparison, a description of the characterization of the reference detectors, the data-analysis, participant results and their uncertainties and the degree of equivalence of participating laboratories with the CCPR KCRV. The full Technical Reports of the participants are included in the Appendix of the comparison report. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCPR, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).