Refractive index profile and propagation properties of light-induced self-written optical waveguide

摘要

In this study, we investigated a light-induced self-written (LISW) optical waveguide which is fabricated in a photopolymerizing resin mixture solution by using a multimode optical fiber. The core portion has formed by the selective photopolymerization of a higher refractive index monomer by Ar{sup}+ laser irradiation (λ = 488nm) through the optical fiber. The experimental results show that the refractive index profile e increased stepwise and its relative refractive index difference is Δ = 0.62% at maximum. Although this waveguide has scattering loss properties in shorter wavelength, a propagation loss of 1.4dB/cm and 0.7dB/cm are achieved at 0.68μm and 1.3μm in wavelength, respectively. This method enables automation of the optical interconnection and packaging process, and could potentially contribute to future expansion of optical fiber communication networks.