UV-laser modification of polymers for the optical information technology

In this article some recent results are presented about the photochemical modification of polymers by UV-laser-irradiation leading to a controllable change of the refractive index in the UV-illuminated region of the polymer surface. The exact modification mechanism and its relation to the modified refractive index have been examined on the basis of PMMA used as an UV-modifiable model polymer with good optical quality. This new UV-laser-assisted technology for photochemical modification of the optical properties of UV-modifiable polymers permits the manufacturing of a wide range of integrated-optical components like strip waveguides, power splitters, (Mach-Zehnder-)interferometers, Bragg gratings and other dispersive structures. These integrated-optical elements are relevant for the realization of complex dispersive components like WDM or AWG, which have a wide application in the optical sensor and information technology. The optical and functional properties like loss rate or mode field distribution of some selected integrated-optical components have been measured and are discussed in this paper.