Monolithically integrated stretchable photonics.

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Mechanically stretchable photonics offers novel design possibilities for applications like artificial skins and soft wearable electronics.
• Developing stretchable devices from intrinsically brittle materials like chalcogenide glass presents significant engineering challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and experimentally realize the first single-mode stretchable photonic devices.
• To develop a strategy for integrating brittle photonic materials onto stretchable substrates.
• To create a predictive analytical model for stress-optical coupling in such devices.

Main Methods:

• Monolithic integration of chalcogenide glass and epoxy polymer photonic devices on elastomer substrates.
• Employing local substrate stiffening to protect critical photonic components from deformation.
• Utilizing meandering Euler spiral geometry for optical waveguides to minimize loss during stretching.
• Developing a rigorous analytical model for stress-optical coupling prediction.

Main Results:

• Successful fabrication of the first single-mode stretchable photonic devices.
• Demonstrated device resilience, sustaining 41% nominal tensile strain and 3000 stretching cycles without optical performance degradation.
• Validated analytical model accurately predicts stress-optical coupling without fitting parameters.

Conclusions:

• The developed design strategy enables the creation of robust, stretchable photonic devices from brittle materials.
• These devices pave the way for advanced applications in flexible and wearable technologies.
• The analytical model provides a valuable tool for designing future stretchable optical systems.