Fabrication of large all-PDMS micropatterned waveguides for lab on chip integration using a rapid prototyping technique

A simple method for manufacturing centimeter-long all-PDMS embedded and rib microwaveguides is presented. It allows for the fabrication of centimeter-long micromolds by direct laser ablation of a desired waveguide pattern inside an acrylic sheet to create a pattern which is then transferred to a poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer using soft-lithography. A refractive index difference between the core and cladding of 1.3x10 super(-3) was achieved by controlling the PDMS curing and linear attenuation of 1.27 dB/cm for embedded and 2.36 dB/cm for a rib waveguide, similar to other techniques. Finally, a beamsplitter was fabricated to demonstrate that our low-cost process is suitable to integrate waveguide devices on lab on chip platforms.