Fabrication of 32×32 polymer arrayed waveguide gratings using remelting technique

Abstract

A 32 × 32 arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer operating around the 1550 nm wavelength has been designed and fabricated using fluorinated poly (ether ether ketone). The schematic layout is about 3.2×1.7 cm². For our AWG, the total loss of designed AWG multiplexer is calculated to be 4.5 dB. We fabricated the AWG multiplexer by spin coating, photolithographic patterning and reactive ion etching (RIE). The core size is 5×5 μm². The roughness of polymer surface was reduced by 20 nm using a remelting technique. The measured wavelength channel spacing of the fabricated AWG multiplexer is 0.796 nm and center wavelength is 1548 nm. The inserting loss of the AWG is 9.5 dB and crosstalk less than -20 dB.