Vertical waveguide structure optical printed circuit board based on a low-dielectric and transparent PCB materials

Abstract

This paper suggests an optical printed circuit board (OPCB) having new optical coupling structures, including a laser-drilled and under-filled structure (LD-UFS) and a vertical waveguide structure (VWS). The suggested OPCB has the features of high-speed data transmission as well as highly efficient optical coupling because it was fabricated with low-dielectric and transparent electrical PCB materials through a PCB compatible process. To evaluate and compare the optical and electrical performances of the suggested OPCB with those of other OPCBs, the various types of OPCBs were fabricated and measured. The optical coupling losses of the LD-UFS and the VWS were measured with excellent results of 9.8 and 7.8 dB, respectively, which are lower than that of the basic structure. The electrical 3-dB bandwidth of the OPCB was also evaluated up to more than 40 GHz.