Single mode tapered polymer waveguides for mode conversion

We have developed a tapered polymer waveguide that performs a 2-dimensional mode transformation to convert the laser diode mode into the fiber mode. The waveguide was designed by modeling and computer optimization. The input and output waveguide structures were designed and optimized separately, under the assumption that by adiabatically tapering the waveguide and using a longitudinal grading of the index, we can fabricate a waveguide which correctly links the input structure to the output structure.