Issue |
J. Eur. Opt. Soc.-Rapid Publ.
Volume 6, 2011
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 11010 | |
Number of page(s) | 8 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.2971/jeos.2011.11010 | |
Published online | 08 April 2011 |
Regular papers
One-step fabrication of polymer components for microphotonics by gray scale electron beam lithography
1
Royal Institute of Technology, Division of Optics, Electrum 229, 164 40 Kista, Sweden
2
Aalto University, Department of Applied Physics, PO Box 13500, 00076 Aalto, Finland
3
University of Eastern Finland, Department of Physics and Mathematics, PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
Received:
14
January
2011
We demonstrate an application of gray scale electron beam lithography (EBL) for the fabrication of polymer waveguides and grating output couplers with depth variable features, using the SU-8 resist. The technique is mainly applicable for multi-level binary profile, where groove depths of the structure are controlled by choosing a proper exposure dose. Unlike reactive ion etching which is limited by the lag effect, the gray scale EBL allows free combination of groove widths and depths. Shrinking effect which is critical in polymer couplers' writing is taken into account and can be compensated. For better fabrication feasibility, the grating couplers can be simultaneously produced with waveguides with no inter-step alignment required. Therefore, this is a promising technique in manufacturing grating output couplers for polymer based waveguides with high performance in terms of mode matching/confinement and coupling efficiency.
Key words: gray scale electron beam lithography / 3D polymer waveguides and grating couplers / lag effect
© The Author(s) 2011. All rights reserved.
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.