Polymer-based S-shaped waveguide VOA for applications in the broadband DWDM network

Abstract

A polymer-based thermal-controllable waveguide variable optical attenuator (VOA) is proposed. We numerically design an S-shaped buried waveguide structure with a polymer core and silica cladding, which can attenuate light with satisfactory optical attenuation in the spectrum range from 1.28 to 1.58 mum. The design is suitable for the integration of VOAs with planar lightwave devices and is easy to fabricate as monolithic optical modules for application in optical communication systems. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.