Optical property modi®cation of PMMA by ion-beam implantation

Polymeric waveguides were fabricated by proton implantation on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Depth pro®les of the refractive indices of modi®ed regions were obtained and were found to be in good agreement with the stopping power curve of protons in PMMA. It means that the waveguides are formed at the depths where the stopping power is the maximum value. Light losses for 635 nm wavelength were measured using planar waveguides to verify if the transmittance is enough for the application of the technique to optical devices. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.