Light coupling in microscale polymer photonic circuits

Abstract

Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are devices that integrate multiple photonic functions. The visible light is guided between components by light waveguides of the same order as light wavelength, i.e. 1-5?m or even less [1]. Because of the size of connections, coupling light into PICs is a challenging task previous to characterizing them. The aim of our group is to turn a passive PIC into an active one by adding layers of electro-optics materials, either as a component within the light path, or deposited onto the waveguide affecting the evanescent field of the guided light. Testing the light behavior inside the PICs may be hampered by the arduous light coupling from external sources. This problem may be faced up from several points of view.