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

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.