Current Optics and Photonics

Optical Society of Korea (한국광학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Polymer-waveguide Bragg-grating Devices Fabricated Using Phase-mask Lithography

  • Park, Tae-Hyun (Department of Electronics Engineering, Pusan National University) ;
  • Kim, Sung-Moon (Department of Electronics Engineering, Pusan National University) ;
  • Oh, Min-Cheol (Department of Electronics Engineering, Pusan National University)
  • Received : 2019.06.27
  • Accepted : 2019.08.08
  • Published : 2019.10.25
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Polymeric optical waveguide devices with Bragg gratings have been investigated, for implementing tunable lasers and wavelength filters used in wavelength-division-multiplexed optical communication systems. Owing to the excellent thermo-optic effect of these polymers, wavelength tuning is possible over a wide range, which is difficult to achieve using other optical materials. In this study the phase-mask technology, which has advantages over the conventional interferometeric method, was introduced to facilitate the fabrication of Bragg gratings in polymeric optical waveguide devices. An optical setup capable of fabricating multiple Bragg gratings simultaneously on a 4-inch silicon wafer was constructed, using a 442-nm laser and phase mask. During fabrication, some of the diffracted light in the phase mask was totally reflected inside the mask, which affected the quality of the Bragg grating adversely, so experiments were conducted to solve this issue. To verify grating uniformity, two types of wavelength-filtering devices were fabricated using the phase-mask lithography, and their reflection and transmission spectra were measured. From the results, we confirmed that the phase-mask method provides good uniformity, and may be applied for mass production of polymer Bragg-grating waveguide devices.

Keywords

References

  1. S.-H. Oh, K.-H. Yoon, K.-S. Kim, J. Kim, O.-K. Kwon, D.-K. Oh, Y.-O. Noh, J.-K. Seo, and H.-J. Lee, "Tunable external cavity laser by hybrid integration of a superluminescent diode and a polymer Bragg reflector," IEEE J. Sel. Topics Quantum Electron. 17, 1534-1541 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2011.2130515
  2. D. Felipe, Z. Zhang, W. Brinker, M. Kleinert, A. Maese-Novo, C. Zawadzki, M. Moehrle, and N. Keil, "Polymer-based external cavity lasers: Tuning efficiency, reliability and polarization diversity," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 26, 1391-1394 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1109/LPT.2014.2324760
  3. J.-H. Lee, M.-Y. Park, C.-Y. Kim, S.-H. Cho, W. Lee, G. Jeong, and B.-W. Kim, "tunable external cavity laser based on polymer waveguide platform for WDM access network," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 17, 1956-1958 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1109/LPT.2005.853250
  4. L. Eldada, R. Blomquist, M. Maxfield, D. Pant, G. Boudoughian, C. Poga, and R. A. Norwood, "Thermooptic planar polymer Bragg grating OADM's with broad tuning range," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 11, 448-450 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1109/68.752544
  5. D. Sadot and E. Boimovich, "Tunable optical filters for dense WDM networks," IEEE Commun. Mag. 36, 50-55 (1998).
  6. J. Buus and E. J. Murphy, "Tunable lasers in optical networks," J. Lightwave Technol. 24, 5-11 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2005.859839
  7. Y. Hida, H. Onose, and S. Imamura, "Polymer waveguide thermooptic switch with low electric power consumption at 3 $\mu$m," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 5, 782-784 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1109/68.229805
  8. N. Keil, H. H. Yao, and C. Zawadzki, “2 X 2 digital optical switch realized by low cost polymer waveguide technology,” Electron. Lett. 32, 1470-1471 (1996).
  9. N. Keil, H. H. Yao, and C. Zawadzki, "2 x 2 digital optical switch realized by low cost polymer waveguide technology," Electron. Lett. 32, 1470-1471 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1049/el:19961010
  10. T.-H. Park, S.-M. Kim, S.-H. Park, J.-K. Seo, H.-G. Lee, and M.-C. Oh, "Polymer waveguide WDM channel selector operating over the entire C and L bands," Opt. Express 26, 16323-16332 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.26.016323
  11. Z. Zhang, D. de Felipe, W. Brinker, M. Kleinert, A. Maese-Novo, M. Moehrle, C. Zawadzki, and N. Keil, "C/L-band colorless ONU based on polymer bi-directional optical subassembly," J. Lightwave Technol. 33, 1230-1234 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2014.2377092
  12. C. Vieu, F. Carcenac, A. Pepin, Y. Chen, M. Mejias, A. Lebib, L. Manin-Ferlazzo, L. Couraud, and H. Launois, "Electron beam lithography: resolution limits and applications," Appl. Surf. Sci. 164, 111-117 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-4332(00)00352-4
  13. Q. Xie, M. H. Hong, H. L. Tan, G. X. Chen, L. P. Shi, and T. C. Chong, "Fabrication of nanostructures with laser interference lithography," J. Alloys Compd. 449, 261-264 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2006.02.115
  14. E. Gamet, Y. Jourlin, S. Pelissier, R. Min, S. Reynaud, C. Veillas, J. C. Pommier, and O. Parriaux, "Flying phase mask for the printing of long submicron-period stitching less gratings," Microelectron. Eng. 83, 734-737 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2006.01.002
  15. M.-C. Oh, H.-J. Lee, M.-H. Lee, J.-H. Ahn, S.-G. Han, and H.-G. Kim, "Tunable wavelength filters with Bragg gratings in polymer waveguides," Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 2543-2545 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.122527
  16. K. Buchwald, Fused Silica Transmission Gratings, Ibsen Photonics Corp., Farum, Denmark (2007).
  17. Y.-O. Noh, H.-J. Lee, J. J. Ju, M.-S. Kim, S. H. Oh, and M.-C. Oh, "Continuously tunable compact lasers based on thermo-optic polymer waveguides with Bragg gratings," Opt. Express 16, 18194-18201 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.16.018194
  18. S.-H. Park, J.-K. Seo, J.-O. Park, H.-K. Lee, J.-S. Shin, and M.-C. Oh, "Transmission type tunable wavelength filters based on polymer waveguide Bragg reflectors," Opt. Commun. 362, 96-100 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2015.08.038
  19. T.-H. Park, G. Huang, E.-T. Kim, and M.-C. Oh, "Optimization of tilted Bragg grating tunable filters based on polymeric optical waveguides," Curr. Opt. Photon. 1, 214-220 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3807/COPP.2017.1.3.214
  20. T.-H. Park, J.-S. Shin, G. Huang, W.-S. Chu, and M.-C. Oh, "Tunable channel drop filters consisting of a tilted Bragg grating and a mode sorting polymer waveguide," Opt. Express 24, 5709-5714 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.24.005709