Fabrication of channel waveguides in dye-doped polymer films by a beam-processing machine based on photo induced bleaching

摘要

Irreversible changes in the refractive index of a dye-doped polymer film by photo induced bleaching were measured with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The decrease in the refractive index of the film for various laser powers and various radiation times has been investigated. A beam-processing machine with two simultaneous outputs has been designed to make use of this change in the refractive index to fabricate a channel waveguide. This method is simple and one step, and does not involve any solvent or mask; and also due to photobleaching, the pattern is not reversible.