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Mannheim, Universiẗat, Diss., 2002.

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Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Studienarb., 2002.

The aim of the present work was to design and fabricate all purpose, positioning-tolerant and efficient interconnects between single-mode fibers and integrated waveguides out of polymers. The developed structures are part of the optical packaging of integrated optical chips. Integrated optics have gathered tremendous interest throughout recent years from research as well as from the industry, and most likely the demand will further grow in the future. Today’s trend is to establish optical data communication not only in far-distance transmission but also in end-user or so called fiber-to-home configurations, or, in the near future, also on board or even chip level. In addition, integrated optical sensors are gaining more and more importance. In the future, lab-on-a-chip systems may be able to simplify and accelerate analysis methods within health care or allow for a continuous monitoring of almost any environmental variable. All these applications call for robust optical packaging solutions. Many integrated optical chips are using a silicon-on-insulator design. Technologies which were originally intended for the manufacturing of integrated circuits can be utilized for the fabrication of such silicon-on-insulator chips. Point-of-care testing, which is a considerable part of bio-sensing, in some cases only allows the use of disposable transducer elements. The fabrication of these transducers, also including almost all other system parts, may be possible using polymers. Alternative fabrication methods like nanoimprint lithography can be applied for the patterning of polymers. With these, the extension of already known working principles or even entirely new device architectures become feasible for mass production. The direct patterning of polymers by means of nanoimprint was used to fabricate interconnects for integrated waveguides. In contrast to conventional lithography approaches, where a patterned resist layer is used as a masking layer for subsequent process steps, direct patterning allows the immediate use of the structures as functional elements. Firstly, nanoimprint allows diffraction-unlimited patterning with nanometer resolutions as well as the replication of complex three-dimensional patterns. These unique properties were used within this work to pattern shallow gratings atop an integrated waveguide within only one single manufacturing step. The gratings are used as coupling elements and can be utilized either to couple light from external elements to the chip or vice versa. Considerations regarding the optical effects on single-mode polymer waveguides as well as grating couplers were obtained from simulation. They are specific to the chosen design and the used polymer and cannot be found elsewhere so far. Compared to similar designs and fabrication strategies proposed in literature, the ones followed here allow for a higher efficiency. The dimensions and process windows obtained from simulation did serve as a basis for the subsequent fabrication of the grating couplers. All steps which are necessary to turn the calculated design into reality, ranging from master fabrication, to working mold cast and imprint, are shown in detail. The use of a working mold strategy is of crucial importance for the fabrication process and is discussed in detail. The use of a working mold preserves a costly master and further allows for a cost-efficient production. Parameters which are relevant for the production as well as for the final polymer patterns were analyzed and discussed. On the basis of the obtained data, a process optimization was performed. The optical characterization was also part of the presented work. A comparison with the results obtained from simulation is included and additional effects were revealed. Most of them may be subject to further improvement in future designs. In summary, the present work contributes to the field of optical packaging. It shows a viable route for the design and fabrication of interconnects of single-mode polymer waveguides. The presented design can be used as a building block which can be placed at almost any positions within an integrated optical chip. The fabrication method includes a minimum number of process steps and is still able to increase performance compared to similar approaches. Moreover, all process steps allow for scaling and are potential candidates for mass production.

The work provides an overview of different integrated optical amplifiers. Semiconductor optical amplifiers and fiber amplifiers are described, as well as devices that utilize non-linear effects, nanocrystalline materials, or photonic crystals. Dielectric materials that are doped with rare-earth ions are considered more thoroughly. After a review of the principles of their optical activity the general mechanisms of excitation and emission are described. Materials aspects regarding the spectral range, their fabrication and the solubility of the dopants follow. An erbium-doped alumina waveguide amplifier, reported earlier in the literature, is chosen as an example to demonstrate the feasibility of such components. A theoretical model of the population densities of the energy levels is derived for the simulation. By numerical methods the non-linear system of the rate equations is solved and the stability of the steady state is shown. The simulation of the amplifier demonstrates the dependence of the gain of both the excitation energy and the z-coordinate. Moreover, the superiority of an excitation wavelength of 980 nm compared to 1530 nm is shown. With the model the literature data could be reproduced. / Die Arbeit gibt einen Überblick über verschiedene Möglichkeiten der Realisierung integriert-optischer Wellenleiterverstärker. Ausgehend von optischen Halbleiter- und Faserverstärkern werden einführend ebenso Anordnungen beschrieben, die nichtlineare Effekte sowie nanokristalline Materialien und photonische Kristalle nutzen. Besondere Bedeutung kommt dielektrischen Materialien zu, die mit optisch aktiven Dotanden, bevorzugt Seltenerdionen, versehen sind. Hierbei werden die Ursachen für die optische Aktivität der Lanthanide sowie die generellen Mechanismen der Anregungs- und Emissionsprozesse beschrieben. Aspekte der Materialauswahl, vor allem hinsichtlich des verwendeten Spektralbereiches sowie bezüglich ihrer Herstellung und der Löslichkeit der Dotanden schließen sich an. Anhand eines Literaturbeispiels wird die Realisierbarkeit eines erbiumdotierten Aluminiumoxid-Wellenleiterverstärkers demonstriert. Hierfür wird ein Modell zur Simulation der Besetzungsdichten der angeregten Energieniveaus abgeleitet und mittels numerischer Methoden das sich ergebende, nichtlineare System der Ratengleichungen gelöst, wobei besonders die Stabilität des stationären Besetzungszustandes herausgearbeitet wird. Die Simulation der Verstärkeranordnung zeigt zum einen die Abhängigkeit der Verstärkung von der z-Koordinate sowie der Pumpleistung; zum anderen wird deutlich, dass die Anregung bei 980 nm der Variante bei 1530 nm überlegen ist. Mit dem verwendeten Modell konnten die Literaturdaten reproduziert werden.