Serially-grafted electrooptic polymer waveguide fabricated by thermal imprint lithography

Electro-optic (EO) polymer is a promising candidate for active material in realizing future EO modulation. It offers high-bandwidth optical modulator devices. Thermally-curable polycyanurate (PCN) doped with nonlinear optical chromophores is studied to create guest-host EO polymers with stable second-order nonlinearity. PCN-based optical waveguide is fabricated by simple thermal imprint lithography using a silicone mold. Single-mode propagation at a wavelength of 1300 nm is realized by fine-tuning the refractive index of core and cladding materials. Based on this technique an approach for serially-grafted optical waveguide is discussed.