3D Polymer-Based 1 × 4 MMI Splitter

Tomas Mizera; Peter Gaso; Dusan Pudis; Martin Ziman; Anton Kuzma; Matej Goraus

doi:10.3390/nano12101749

3D Polymer-Based 1 × 4 MMI Splitter

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 May 20;12(10):1749. doi: 10.3390/nano12101749.

Authors

Tomas Mizera¹, Peter Gaso¹, Dusan Pudis^{1

2}, Martin Ziman³, Anton Kuzma³, Matej Goraus¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Zilina, Univerzitna 1, 01026 Zilina, Slovakia.
² University Science Park of the University of Zilina, Univerzitna 1, 01026 Zilina, Slovakia.
³ Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Institute of Electronics and Photonics, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Ilkovicova 3, 81219 Bratislava, Slovakia.

Abstract

Due to the increasing trend of photonic device miniaturisation, there is also an increased need for optical splitting in a small volume. We propose a smart solution to split light in three dimensions (3D). A 3D optical splitter based on multimode interference (MMI) for the wavelength of 1550 nm is here designed, simulated, fabricated and optimised for splitting at 1550 nm. We focus also on the possibility of its direct integration on an optical fibre. The design is focused on the use of 3D laser lithography based on the direct laser writing (DLW) process. The output characteristics are investigated by near-field measurement, where we confirm the successful 1 × 4 splitting on a 158 µm long MMI splitter.

Keywords: 3D splitter; direct laser writing; multimode interference splitter; polymer.

Grants and funding

The project was co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. This work was supported by the Slovak National Grant Agency under project No. VEGA 1/0363/22 and the Slovak Research and Development Agency under project No. APVV-20-0264, No. APVV-19-0602 and No. APVV-18-0550. This publication was realised with the support of Operational Program Integrated Infrastructure 2014–2020 of the project Innovative Solutions for Propulsion, Power and Safety Components of Transport Vehicles, code ITMS 313011V334, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.