TY - JOUR

T1 - Simulation and Experimental Verification of the Thermal Behaviour of Self-Written Waveguides

AU - Günther, Axel

AU - Baran, Murat

AU - Kowalsky, Wolfgang

AU - Roth, Bernhard

N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy within the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD (EXC 2122, Project ID 390833453).

PY - 2021/8/26

Y1 - 2021/8/26

N2 - In this work, we investigated the optical response of a self-written waveguide (SWW) in detail by heating the structure from room temperature up to 60 °C. Previous results indicated a decrease in the optical transmission with increasing temperature for certain waveguide parameters. Based on new experimental measurements, we have identified material parameters resulting in opposite behaviour. An experimental setup was conceived to verify these results. Hereby, we were able to show that we can adjust material parameters such as refractive index and the corresponding density of the material by adapting the curing time applied during the fabrication of the waveguides. This, in turn, affects the material’s response during the heating process. We showed that a limitation of the external curing time changes the internal conditions of the SWW and the cladding in a manner that the numerical aperture increases with the temperature, which subsequently also results in an increase in the optical transmission. In this study, we explain this unexpected behavior of the SWW and point towards possible future applications.

AB - In this work, we investigated the optical response of a self-written waveguide (SWW) in detail by heating the structure from room temperature up to 60 °C. Previous results indicated a decrease in the optical transmission with increasing temperature for certain waveguide parameters. Based on new experimental measurements, we have identified material parameters resulting in opposite behaviour. An experimental setup was conceived to verify these results. Hereby, we were able to show that we can adjust material parameters such as refractive index and the corresponding density of the material by adapting the curing time applied during the fabrication of the waveguides. This, in turn, affects the material’s response during the heating process. We showed that a limitation of the external curing time changes the internal conditions of the SWW and the cladding in a manner that the numerical aperture increases with the temperature, which subsequently also results in an increase in the optical transmission. In this study, we explain this unexpected behavior of the SWW and point towards possible future applications.

KW - Optical interconnects

KW - Optical sensor

KW - Optical simulation

KW - Refractive index mea-surements

KW - Self-written waveguides

KW - Thermal simulation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114115520&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/app11177881

DO - 10.3390/app11177881

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85114115520

VL - 11

JO - Applied Sciences (Switzerland)

JF - Applied Sciences (Switzerland)

SN - 2076-3417

IS - 17

M1 - 7881

ER -