PULSED, LASER-INDUCED HOLOGRAPHIC COUPLING GRATINGS FOR WAVE-GUIDES MADE OF CROSS-LINKABLE POLYMERS

We report a simple and efficient laser-pulse technique for producing s urface-relief gratings in polymer waveguides. The gratings are created in the non-cross-linked sample areas of waveguides by exposure to the interference pattern of frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser pulses in a du al-beam interferometer. Since light does not affect the cross-linked p ortions of the samples, our technique is particularly appropriate for channel waveguides created by selective bleaching and/or cross linking . (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.