SILICON PHTHALOCYANINE METHYL-METHACRYLATE COPOLYMER SLAB DIRECTIONAL-COUPLERS FOR ALL-OPTICAL SWITCHING

Slab waveguide directional couplers were fabricated from the third-ord er nonlinear optical Polymer silicon phthalocyanine/methyl methacrylat e 2/98 copolymer as the active material and poly(methyl methacrylate) as the cladding layer. The monomethacrylate copolymer was synthesized, device fabrication conditions determined, and five-layer slab directi onal couplers fabricated. Completed couplers demonstrated waveguide lo ss on the order of 5 dB/cm and coupling lengths of 0.5 mm at 1.29 mum. These vertically coupled devices may be useful for all-optical switch ing. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.