Anthony J. Ticknor

Complementary optical tap fabricated in an electro‐optic polymer waveguide

An active complementary optical tap made in an electro‐optic polymer waveguide is reported for the first time. This device is the critical component of an optical railtap, a system capable of providing many optical interconnects with a single laser source. The device was fabricated by selective photobleaching of a uniformly poled polymer layer, and complementary switching was demonstrated.

Developments in organic electro-optic devices at Lockheed

We report on the recent development and initial test results of two electro-optic polymer based integrated optic devices for optical interconnection applications. The first is an optical railtap for the distribution of many different optical signals from a single CW laser diode, and the second is a traveling wave Mach-Zehnder integrated optic modulator, which was modulated at frequencies up to 8 GHz. Electro-optic polymer materials supplied by Akzo Research, By, were used in both devices.

Electro-optic polymers for optical interconnects

Glassy nonlinear optical polymers can be processed into channel waveguides. When poled, the channels become electrooptic and can switch and modulate light. Using lithographic and machining techniques familiar to the chip industry, it should be possible to integrate large numbers of electrooptic switches into a board-level package or module, and thus provide the additional benefits of active switching and reconfiguration to passive hybrid optical interconnect modules. Some of the properties of the materials, some process methods, and potential applications in optical interconnection are described.

Advances in Organic Electro-Optic Devices

We report initial experiments on the fabrication of active and passiveintegrated optic device structures based on poled polymer electro-optic buried channel waveguides. The process of channel waveguide definition and fabrication through electric field poling is described and experimental results are presented. The fabrication, theoretical performance modeling and experimental evaluation of several integrated optic device structures, including phase modulators, directional couplers and Y-branch interferometers, are also reported.

Applications of electro-optic polymers to optical interconnects

Electro-optic (EO) polymers have emerged as a new class of materials for integrated optics and lightwave device applications. We provide a concise engineering description of the state of EO polymer materials development and then introduce their application to switchable, guided wave optical interconnections. Such interconnections potentially offer higher routing density, lower noise, lower propagation delay, and the simplification of many problems encountered in the design of high-frequency on- and off-module connections for high-performance electronic systems.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Practical considerations for polymer photonic devices

Electro-optic (EO) poled polymer materials exhibit low dispersion and low dielectric constants. EO polymer materials have been modulated flat to 40 GHz and exhibit few fundamental limits for ultrafast modulation and switching. Channel waveguides and integrated optic circuits can be defined by the poling process itself, by photochemistry of the EO polymer, or by a variety of well understood micro-machining techniques. EO polymer materials have been used to fabricate high-speed Mach-Zehnder modulators, directional couplers, Fabry-Perot etalons, and even multi-tap devices. Practical issues remain to be solved before polymer photonic technology may be exploited in systems such as datacom and telecom. These include reliable, low cost fiber-attach and packaging, support circuitry and interfaces, and the scale-up to high volume production. This talk reviews requirements for practical exploitation and displays recent progress toward achieving reliable products.

Datacom applications of electro-optic polymer devices

Electro-optic polymer waveguide modulators may be used in parallel modulation arrays supplied by branching structures providing fanout from a CW laser for a variety of applications, including CATV and data communications. This paper highlights some of the benefits of using EO polymer modulators in arrays for point-to-point digital data communications.

Organic electro-optic devices for optical interconnection

The exceptional electro-optic properties of poled polymer films, coupled with the power and flexibility of thin film fabrication and photolithographic processing, may make possible the hybrid integration of electronic and photonic devices, combining the processing power of VLSI with a dense, high bandwidth, photonic interconnection and switching network in a single, large format, package. In this paper, we describe the potential applications and benefits of electro-optic polymers for optical interconnection and present a review of some of the relevant progress to date in electro-optic polymer materials and devices. Development of an all-polyimide electro-optic polymer system (cladding/core/cladding) based entirely on commercially available components is described. An integrated optic Mach-Zehnder modulator was fabricated using this material system and used in a 200 Mbit/sec digital signal transmission optical interconnection demonstration. Lastly, a potential increase in electro-optic polymer integration density was illustrated by a proof of concept demonstration of three levels of waveguide structures on a single substrate.

Electro-optic polymer devices for optical interconnects

Electro-optic polymers exhibit many useful properties for distribution and routing of light on optical multilayer boards and modules. With the development of more robust materials it should soon be possible to use these materials to provide high-density interconnects at significant power savings and with reduced noise at frequencies above 100 MHz. We review the research toward creating new materials and devices for applications to packaging technology.

Reliability assurance of polymer-based solid state optical switches

BeamBox polymer based fiber-optic space switches have been submitted to a reliability qualification program. The results of this program show that these switches meet the requirements for telecommunication applications. Highly stable switches have been obtained by proper design, testing, and optimization of materials, parts, and production processes.