FABRICATION OF ARRAYS OF CHANNEL WAVE-GUIDES BY SELF-ASSEMBLY USING PATTERNED ORGANIC MONOLAYERS AS TEMPLATES

Optical waveguides([1,2]) are structures that confine and guide light waves. They are important in a range of applications: communication li nes, photonic sensors (bio-,([3]) chemo-,([4,5]) and fluoro-sensors([6 ])), and components of optical devices([7]) such as couplers, splitter s, and interferometers. In particular, channel waveguides([8]) allow h igh integration density, unambiguous sensing held, and spatial multipl exing in optical systems. These channel (or strip) waveguides are fabr icated by dry etching,([9,10]) localized ion exchange,([11]) laser-den sification of sol-gel films,([12]) direct laser writing,([13]) and con ventional photolithographic techniques.([14-16])