Solution-deposited thin films as passive and active light-guides

Light-guiding thin films of various materials have been deposited on glass substrates from liquid solutions by slow evaporation of the solvent. The attenuation of the guided light wave in some of these films is as low as that in the best films prepared by other methods. Film deposition from solution is done at or near room temperature. Therefore, this technique allows us to dope the thin films with organic molecules, e.g., laser dyes. The preparation and light-guiding properties of the doped and undoped films are described. The materials studied were epoxy, lead-silica, polyurethane, and Kodak photoresist KPR. Films of the first and second material have shown losses as low as 0.3 dB/cm at wavelengths of 0.633 microm and 1.064 microm, respectively. Films of polyurethane have been prepared with rhodamine 6G doping. When pumped with a pulsed nitrogen laser, the doped films showed optical gains of up to 100 dB/cm. The KPR films have an attenuation of ~1 dB/cm at 1.064 microm. This low optical loss, in combination with the hotographic sensitivity of the KPR, offers the possibility of fabricating integrated optical circuits directly in the photoresist films.