POLYMER WAVE-GUIDES - CHARACTERIZATION THROUGH PRISM FILM COUPLER METHOD

Cr(VI) and Fe(III) doped poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(acrylic acid) po lymers have been used as real-time holographic recording media as well as materials to fabricate planar waveguides. Planar wave guides were made of these metal ion doped polymer thin films. Changes in the absor ption spectra of these polymer films due to irradiation with an intens e illumination of 468 nm light were observed. Modifications in optical properties of dichromated poly(vinyl alcohol) (DCPVA), dichromated po ly(acrylic acid) (DCPAA), and ferric chloride doped poly(vinyl alcohol ) (FePVA) were experimentally determined by the prism-film coupler (PF C) method for the first time. Changes in the refractive index at 632.8 nm were monitored for different exposure energies. Modification of th e modal properties was observed and the refractive index of these film s was also determined from the angular position of the guided modes. O ptical losses in both exposed and unexposed films of DCPVA, DCPAA, and FePVA were measured employing a coupling set-up with two prisms. Obse rved results suggest that these materials can find successful applicat ions in promising areas like integrated optics and planar optical inte rconnects.