Photon Factory system user Xinjie Song will be giving a seminar on the Design and Fabrication of Plastic Waveguides at 11am on Tuesday 10 May. All are welcome so come along!

Abstract: Polymer waveguide devices will play a key role in the area of integrated optics due to an easier fabrication process and integration over inorganic counterparts. My project is aiming at designing and characterizing an electro-optic polymer modulator operating at 1.55um by doping amorphous polycarbonate (APC) with non-linear chromophores provided by IRL. After an introduction to plastic optical waveguides, we will look at some simulation results which are used to determine the dimensions for the single mode operation of the straight waveguides. Different fabrication processes will be discussed together with some preliminary results. Some pictures of light coupled into waveguides will be presented as well.  Finally, future work will be described.