Abstract

Polymer optical waveguides are attractive for economical opto-electronic devices and interconnections in optical telecommunication systems.¹ High thermal stability should be one of the first priorities in polymer optical waveguides used for these purposes for compatibility with high-performance electronic device fabrication. Flexible and free-standing polymer waveguides enable flexible and high-density optical interconnections. We have synthesized novel fluorinated polyimides² with high optical transparency at the optical telecommunication wavelengths of 1.3 and 1.5 µm, and have fabricated buried waveguides with singlemode behavior on a substrate.³ These organic polymer materials have good flexibility and can be used to make freestanding film waveguides. In this paper, we report the fabrication and properties of film waveguides made from fluorinated polyimides.

© 1995 IEEE