Optical waveguides structured with photoaligning polymers

We present a novel fast fabrication method for making optical waveguides by using a photoaligning and a liquid-crystal polymer. A difference in the refractive indices in the core and cladding regions is achieved by use of polarized UV light to align the polymer chains differently. A refractive-index difference of Delta n = 0.07 was achieved. The propagation loss in a channel waveguide is 4 dB/cm at a wavelength of 1.55 mu m. The fabrication method has only a few processing steps and yields short fabrication times. The waveguide structures offer possibilities for generating devices with new applications related to the polarization of the guided light. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.