We investigated the physical and chemical properties of alicyclic methacrylate copolymers and their changes under deep-UV exposure. It was shown that alicyclic methacrylate copolymers have a better thermal stability and a higher refractive index than conventional poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectra show the scission of the carbonyl group of the alicyclic methacrylate copolymers by deep-UV exposure similar to that of PMMA. This structural modification results in a local and controllable increase in refractive index in the exposed areas of the polymer surface. We fabricated polymer waveguides from alicyclic methacrylate copolymers by conventional photolithography using quartz/chromium mask. The minimum propagation loss of the straight waveguide with a 7.5 mm width was 2 dB/cm at 1550 nm.

We have investigated the fabrication of waveguides from alicyclic methacrylate copolymer based on refractive-index modification by deep-UV exposure. By optimizing the UV-exposure process, we were able to obtain single-mode waveguides with a propagation loss of 0.8 dB/cm at 1550 nm, which is due only to material losses in this wavelength range. The loss obtained here is comparable with that of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) waveguides fabricated by deep-UV exposure. The fabricated waveguide is also single mode at 808 nm, and its propagation loss is 0.6 dB/cm. This alicyclic methacrylate copolymer is a promising material for the fabrication of polymer waveguides by use of deep-UV exposure.

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Polymer integrated reverse symmetry waveguides on porous silicon substrate fabricated by using deep ultraviolet radiation in poly(methyl methacrylate) are presented. The layer sequence and geometry of the waveguide enable an evanescent field extending more than 3 microm into the upper waveguide or analyte layer, enabling various integrated optical devices where large evanescent fields are required. The presented fabrication technique enables the generation of defined regions where the evanescent field is larger than in the rest of the waveguide. This technology can improve the performance of evanescent-wave-based waveguide devices.