High-performance polymeric componentry for telecom and datacom applications

We review a polymeric waveguide technology developed to produce affordable high-performance optical components that address the needs of both the tele com and the datacom industries. We engineer advanced organic polymers that can be readily made into planar single-mode, multimode, and micro-optical w aveguide structures of controlled numerical apertures and geometries. These materials are formed from highly crosslinked acrylate monomers with specif ic linkages that determine properties such as flexibility, toughness, optic al loss, and environmental stability, These monomers are intermiscible, pro viding for precise continuous adjustment of the refractive index over a wid e range. in polymer form, they exhibit state-of-the-art loss values. suppre ssed polarization effects, and exceptional stability. enabling their use in a variety of demanding applications. Waveguides are formed photolithograph ically, with the liquid monomer mixture polymerizing upon illumination in t he UV via either mask exposure or laser direct writing. A wide range of rig id and flexible substrates can be used. The devices we describe include a v ariety of passive and thermo-optically active elements that achieve a varie ty of coupling, routing, and filtering functionalities. These devices can b e either individually pigtailed and packaged components or they can be part of a massively parallel photonic integrated circuit on the multichip modul e (MCM), board, or backplane level. (C) 2000 Society of Photo-Optical Instr umentation Engineers. [S0091-3286(00)01003-5].