Polymer micromachining for micro- and nanophotonics

Abstract

Polymeric materials have been used in the fabrication of many high-performance, low cost photonic devices for optical communications, interconnects and sensors. The paper presents two low cost techniques for polymer based photonic components fabrication, such as waveguides, diffractive optical elements and optical modulators. We used both photopatternable (metal doped PVA) and nonphotopatternable polymers (PMMA and silicone polymers). The photosensitivity and, in the same time, refractive index of the poly(vinyl-alcohol) were modified through the addition inorganic/organic materials. These new light-sensitive nanocomposites can be easily spin coated onto variety of semiconductor substrates, and directly patterned to obtain channel waveguides and photonic integrated circuits. For nonphotopatternable polymers, two types of molds have been used: grooves etched in silicon or in silicon dioxide and photoresist molds. Rib waveguides and tunable modulators, voltage actuated, have been obtained using these techniques.