Pulsed, laser-induced holographic coupling gratings for waveguides made of cross-linkable polymers

We report a simple and efficient laser-pulse technique for producing surface-relief gratings in polymer waveguides. The gratings are created in the non-cross-linked sample areas of waveguides by exposure to the interference pattern of frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser pulses in a dual-beam interferometer. Since light does not affect the cross-linked portions of the samples, our technique is particularly appropriate for channel waveguides created by selective bleaching and/or cross linking.