Thermooptic switches using fluorinated polyimide waveguides

Abstract

Thermooptic (TO) switches using polymer optical waveguides have attracted much attention because the TO effect of polymers is ten times that of silica. Therefore, using polymers instead of silica [1-2] significantly reduces the required switching power. Moreover, fabricating polymer optical waveguides is easier than fabricating silica-based ones, so large optical devices can be made more easily.