Simultaneous fabrication of grating couplers and an optical waveguide by photopolymerization

Abstract

A grating coupler1is an attractive component in integrated optics for laser-beam application systems, such as laser-beam deflectors2and optical pick-up heads,3because of its waveguide-air interface operation. However, mass production of grating couplers, which is necessary for practical use, has not yet been achieved because of the minute patterns having submicrometer-order periods. This paper reports a simultaneous fabrication of grating couplers and an optical waveguide by photopolymerization. This method is suitable for mass production.