Ryu Jin Hwa, Lee Tea Ho, Cho In-Kui, Kim Chang-Seok, Jeong Myung Yung
Department of Cogno-Mechatronics Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea.
Opt Express. 2011 Jan 17;19(2):1183-90. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.001183.
This study proposes a simple and cost-effective method of fabricating a double-layer polymeric optical waveguide, using two hot-embossing processes with a single stamp and template for passive alignment between the top and bottom layers. The two hot-embossing processes were conducted sequentially on the top layer and the bottom layer of the polymer layer. The second hot-embossing process was conducted after fabricating the buffer layer on the surface of the polymeric channel structure to control deformation and destruction of the previously fabricated polymeric channel structure. Passive alignment of the channel structure for the top layer and the bottom layer was automatically performed by simple insertion of the stamp and polymer layer using a metal template with the same dimensions (width x length) as the stamp. Regarding the polymer layer, the buffer layer on the side with the channel structure was coated, whereas the layer contacting the stamp did not have a buffer layer. For the purposes of this study, a 2 x 50 channel polymeric multimode optical waveguide was fabricated using a stamp with 50 straight ribs, without any coupling between the layers. The fabricated optical waveguide was controlled within positional tolerances of less than ± 5 μm between layers; propagation loss of below 0.2 dB/cm at 850 nm; and channel uniformity of below 0.5 dB.
本研究提出了一种简单且经济高效的制造双层聚合物光波导的方法，该方法使用单个压模和模板通过两次热压印工艺实现顶层和底层之间的被动对准。两次热压印工艺依次在聚合物层的顶层和底层上进行。在聚合物通道结构表面制备缓冲层后进行第二次热压印工艺，以控制先前制备的聚合物通道结构的变形和破坏。通过使用与压模尺寸（宽度×长度）相同的金属模板简单插入压模和聚合物层，自动实现顶层和底层通道结构的被动对准。对于聚合物层，在具有通道结构的一侧涂覆缓冲层，而与压模接触的层没有缓冲层。为了本研究的目的，使用具有50条直肋的压模制造了一个2×50通道的聚合物多模光波导，层间没有任何耦合。所制造的光波导层间位置公差控制在±5μm以内；在850nm处传播损耗低于0.2dB/cm；通道均匀性低于0.5dB。
