In the last couple of decades huge effort has been put into development of photonics platforms based on various materials such as Si, Si3N4, InP, LiNbO3, GaAs and others. Only few of them (Si, Si3N4, InP) have turned into eco-systems resembling semiconductors industry of design house, foundries, fabless companies and multi project wafer (MPW) services of photonics integrated circuits (PICs). While various photonic platforms have matured to industrial level, they still have numerous challenges including limits set by material properties, expensive fabrication and complicated hybrid integration.
Polymer materials provide numerous advantages over semiconductor and oxide/nitride platforms: combination of passive and active elements, simple fabrication techniques, Integration of other elements for hybrid platform, wide wavelength range and multilayer structure.
We will present the results of developed polymer photonic platform with active and passive elements based on SU-8 and polymethylmethacrylate photoresist.
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