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Polymer waveguide overlays for side-polished fiber devices
Applied Optics
|February 13, 2008
Summary
Researchers explored polymer overlays for side-polished fiber (SPF) devices, creating effective optical filters. These polymer films enable passive devices like channel-dropping filters and polarizers with high performance.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Optoelectronics
- Photonics
Background:
- Side-polished fiber (SPF) devices are crucial for optical communication.
- Guest-host organic thin-film systems offer tunable optical properties.
- Integrating polymers with SPF devices presents fabrication and performance challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the suitability of common host polymers as overlays for SPF devices.
- To fabricate and characterize passive optical devices using polymer overlays.
- To explore the potential of doped polymer overlays for active optical devices.
Main Methods:
- Spin coating was used to fabricate ~10-mum-thick polymer films.
- Decal deposition technique was employed to apply films onto SPF devices.
- Optical performance of fabricated devices (filters, polarizers) was measured.
Main Results:
- Passive devices like channel-dropping filters, bandpass filters, and polarizers were successfully produced.
- Devices exhibited good throughput and high contrast ratios.
- A weak coupled-mode model accurately explained channel-dropping filter features.
Conclusions:
- Polymers are suitable overlays for fabricating high-performance passive SPF optical devices.
- Doped overlays allow for determination of SPF device parameters and estimation of nonlinearities.
- This approach paves the way for all-optical and electro-optic SPF devices.
