Abstract

Electro-optic (EO) polymers have been used recently to integrate active devices, such as optical modulators, couplers, and switches, as well as passive waveguides, into a single planar level on top of a Si (or other) substrate. A further increase in integration can be realized by stacking one level of integrated devices on top of another, resulting in multilevel structures for optical devices. For this purpose, EO polymers have significant advantages over inorganic materials, such as LiNbO₃ and GaAs, because one polymer layer can easily be placed on top of another by using relatively low processing temperatures (≈300°C), and the underlying substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, will not be affected.

© 1992 Optical Society of America