A fabrication of coupling grating in the polymeric waveguide by using two-photon initiated photopolymerization

A ternary materials system, which comprises two-photon initiator, oligomer and poly(methyl methacrylate), was prepared. A polymeric waveguide film was manufactured by spinning the materials on ITO, and the two-photon initiated photopolymerization (TPIP) was carried out successfully in the waveguide film. Consequently, an approach using TPIP is demonstrated for fabrication of coupling grating in a thin polymeric film possessing waveguide properties. The results show that the incident laser can be coupled into the polymeric film by this coupling grating obtained from TPIP. The microstructure feature of coupling grating is illustrated, and waveguide mode and transmission loss of the polymeric film are investigated. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.