Arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) originally designed as demultiplexing device and manufactured with well established silicon wafer technology are already used successfully as compact spectrometers with high resolution¹. In this paper, the concept of a new design for a wavelength demultiplexing device based on tailor-made polymers is presented. The motivation for a new design is a smaller footprint of the device and the avoidance of bended waveguides and the associated losses. Extensive simulations were performed to optimize the design. Using microscope projection lithography and hot embossing a first polymer based device was realized. Its characterization and the achieved performance in terms of resolution and covered wavelength range will be discussed.

Date Published: 3 June 2015
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 9480, Fiber Optic Sensors and Applications XII, 948010 (3 June 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2183328

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9480:
Fiber Optic Sensors and Applications XII
Gary Pickrell; Eric Udd; Henry H. Du, Editor(s)