41-Channel arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer using UV curable polymer operating around 1550nm

In this paper, a polymeric 41-channel AWG multiplexer was fabricated by simple direct ultraviolet photolithography process. We try to use a cross-linkable negative photoresist as core material and an optically clear UV curable epoxy as cladding material. Once exposed to ultraviolet light through a photomask, the polymeric waveguide stripes were obtained upon development. The propagation loss is low as 2.03 dB/cm at 1550 nm wavelength. The AWG multiplexer has channel spacing of 0.789 nm and the center wavelength is close to 1550 nm. The new technique will be well suited for fabricating optical integrated circuits (OICS).