Polymer thin film integrated optics: Fabrication and characterization of polystyrene waveguides

The fabrication and characterization of 1–3 μm polystyrene thin film integrated optical (IO) waveguides is presented. The polymer films were spun‐cast onto quartz and glass microscope slides, yielding waveguides of varying quality. The majority of defects in the polymer films appeared to be introduced during the curing process. Laser light (488 nm) was coupled into the polymer films using the prism coupling technique. The collected Raman emission was used to characterize physical and light guiding properties of acceptable polymer films. The Raman intensity spectra collected as a function of the coupling angle supplied data for the calculation of polymer film thickness and refractive index as well as providing general measure of waveguide suitability. The intensity loss due to scatter of several waveguides was also determined to rigorously evaluate waveguide quality. Copyright © 1988 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Duke Scholars

Author William M. Reichert Biomedical Engineering