Polymeric
matrices offer a wide and powerful platform for integrated
photonics, complementary to the well-established silicon photonics
technology. The possibility to integrate, on the same chip, different
customized materials allows for many functionalities, like the ability
to dynamically control the spectral properties of single optical components.
Within this context, this Article reports on the fabrication and optical
characterization of integrated photonic circuits for the telecom C-band,
made of a combination of both rigid and tunable elastic polymers.
By using a 3D photolithographic technique (direct laser writing),
in a single-step process, every building block of the polymeric circuit
is fabricated: straight and bent waveguides, grating couplers, and
single and vertically coupled whispering gallery mode resonators designed
in planar and vertical geometries. Using this platform, a new type
of operation was introduced through true three-dimensional integration
of tunable photonic components, made by liquid crystalline networks
that can be actuated and controlled by a remote and non-invasive light
stimulus. Depending on the architecture, it is possible to integrate
them as elastic actuators or as constituents of the photonic cavity
itself. The two strategies then exploit the optical induced deformation
and variation of its refractive index, inducing a net red or blue
shift of the cavity resonances, respectively. This work paves the
way for light-tunable optical networks that combine different photonic
components, made by glassy or shape-changing materials, in order to
implement further photonic circuit requirements.