Abstract

Polymer waveguides have been of growing interest in the fields of integrated optics and optical interconnections. Vertical couplers and switches have been attracting considerable attention as key elements in three dimensional optical devices.^1-4) This paper describes a vertically stacked coupler consisting of polymers incorporating electro-optic ( EO ) polymer fabricated using spinning, photolithography and reactive ion etching ( RIE ) techniques.^5,6) This process notes it possible to control the spacing between two stacked waveguides and to design two waveguides independently. This gives advantages over previously reported methods such as photobleaching.^7-9) Optical intensity modulation at 10 kHz is also demonstrated in a device with electrodes.

© 1993 Optical Society of America