Polymeric optical waveguides for optical interconnections

Free-Standing polymeric optical waveguide films with 45 degree mirrors and MT connectors (mechanically transferable spacing connectors) were fabricated by spin-coating, photolithography and reactive ion etching. The spin-coated films had sufficient thickness controllability and surface smoothness for them to be used to fabricate multimode waveguides with a low loss of less than 0.02 dB /cm at 0.83 mu m using deuterated-polymethylmethacrylate for the core and UV-cured resin for the cladding. For application to optical interconnections, a 45 degree mirror was formed in the waveguide by using a 90 degree V-shaped diamond blade, and the mirror loss was 0.3-0.7 dB depending on the measurement conditions. Free-standing polymeric waveguide films were mounted in an MT-compatible connector made of Pyrex glass by using UV curable resin. The insertion loss was about 1 dB which was sufficiently low for practical use.