SC315 Recent Advances in Polymer Waveguides

Sunday, March 22, 2009
9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Paul Ashley; US Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, USA

Course Description

During the last 20 years, polymer materials have been explored for optical waveguide applications in communications, signal processing and sensors. New material development as well as improved fabrication technology has fostered continued advancement in the demonstration of both passive polymer waveguides and active electro-optical devices. This course will briefly review for comparison the variety of materials investigated and developed. Since most applications require active materials, the emphasis will be on active device examples such as modulators and switches with electro-optical polymer materials. The design and fabrication techniques for polymer waveguides will be explained and various design considerations for the waveguides will be detailed, including both optical and electrical issues. Methods for testing waveguides and devices will be described. Issues regarding optical loss, photodegradation, poling, electrodes and interconnection will be discussed as well. Techniques for packaging that are unique to polymer waveguides and devices will be explained, including optical fiber coupling and electrical connections. Integration of polymer waveguide devices with electro-optical devices such as sources and detectors will be examined. Example applications will be described for the use of polymer waveguide devices with a discussion of the comparative performance attributes.

Benefits and Learning Objectives

This course should enable you to:

• Recognize the types and characteristics of polymer waveguide materials, both active and passive.
• Design polymer waveguides and electro-optical polymer devices including design trade-offs and considerations.
• Describe fabrication and testing techniques for polymer waveguides and electro-optical polymer devices.
• Identify applications for polymer waveguides and devices with requirements and comparison to other technologies.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for engineers and scientists with at least a minimum background in basic optics. It may include individuals from industry or academia with interest in this current technology or who have a need to develop skills and perform work in this area.

Biography

Paul Ashley is currently the Division Chief in Micro Devices at AMRDEC, U.S. Army, RDECOM, Redstone Arsenal, where he has been since 1981. He has more than 28 years of research experience in the area of integrated and guided wave photonics, which includes development of materials and devices in LiNbO3, semiconductors, and polymers with seminal work in the area of polymer waveguides and electro-optical polymer waveguide devices. He has authored more than 200 open literature publications and presentations as well as numerous patents.