Abstract

Because of the compatibility with large area process, polymeric material is one of the most promising base materials for future large scale optical integration and interconnects [1],[2]. In the practical application of polymeric waveguides, thermal stability is one of the greatest issues, because the refractive index temperature coefficient of the polymer is approximately one order larger than that of the silicate glass [3]. This paper reports on the thermal stability of deuterated methacrylate polymer channel waveguides which have very low propagation loss at the wavelength of 1.3 ,U m [4]. We chose directional couplers as the test sample because they are very sensitive to the temperature and thus give good information on the temperature dependence of the waveguide parameter.

© 1994 Optical Society of America