Fabrication of planar waveguide chip for splitting or combining an infrared light beam

Based on hybrid materials of polymethamethyl acrylat, silica and zirconia (ASZ)/Titania (AST), some planar structures of optical power splitter/combiner type 1 x N channels were designed and simulated for making masks by using computer software. Splitter chips were then fabricated by using the thin-film sol-gel technique and their structure was formed by using a direct photo-patterning method with UV light and a mask. A conformation of the waveguide was tested with an Alpha-Step IQ system. The waveguide properties of the splitter were measured with a, 1550 nm laser source. The experimental results show that the light was transmitted through the chip with a total output efficiency of around 6% and was separated uniformly at the output channels.