Thermo-optic waveguide gate switch arrays based on direct UV-written highly fluorinated low-loss photopolymer.

Novel thermo-optic waveguide gate switch arrays were designed and fabricated based on the direct UV-written technique. Highly fluorinated low-loss photopolymers and organic-inorganic grafting materials were used as the waveguide core and cladding, respectively. The low absorption loss characteristics and excellent thermal stabilities of the core and cladding materials were obtained. The rectangular waveguides and arrayed electrode heaters have been theoretically designed and numerically simulated to realize single-mode transmission. The propagation loss of a 4-μm-wide straight waveguide was measured as 0.15  dB/cm. The insertion loss of the device was directly measured to be about 5.5 dB. The rise and fall times of the device applied 100 Hz square-wave voltage were obtained as 1.068 and 1.245 ms, respectively. The switching power was about 9.2 mW, and the extinction ratio was 17.8 dB. The low-loss integrated switch arrays are suitable for realizing large-scale photonic integrated circuits.