Additive waveguide manufacturing for optical bus couplers by aerosol jet printing using conditioned flexible substrates

In this work we present the additive manufacturing of optical multimode waveguides on flexible foil by aerosol jet printing. In order to obtain higher aspect ratios for the waveguides, the foils are conditioned by a flexographic printing step in advance. This technique is used to manufacture asymmetric bus couplers, which allow for coupling without waveguide interruption. They follow the working principle of directional core-core-couplers but have different coupling ratios depending on the coupling direction, due to a bending of one of the coupling partners. The latest results on the printing process are shown, especially the laser structuring of the flexographic printing form to optimize the condition lines. Also the attenuation of the printed waveguides is measured as well as the coupling results of the asymmetric bus coupler. Especially the coupling powers and the strength of the asymmetric effect are shown.