Preparation of Waveguide Polymer and its Simulation Study of Thermo-Optic Switch at the Infrared Communication Wavelength 1.55 μm

Abstract

In the current work, a novel benzothiazole waveguide polymer (ABHEPU) consisting of azo chromophore molecule 2 -[4'-(N, N-hydroxyethyl)-amino-phenyl azo]-6-nitrobenzothiazole (HEPNBT) was prepared for the simulation of thermo-optic switch at the infrared communication wavelength 1.55 μm.The thermal property of ABHEPU was measured using the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The glass transition temperature ( ) and decomposition temperature ( ) at 5% mass loss are 110 ∘ C and 266 ∘ C, respectively. The refractive indices of ABHEPU waveguide polymer were determined at different wavelength (532 nm, 650 nm or 850 nm) and temperature using attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique. The transmission loss, dispersion curves and Sellmyer coefficients of ABHEPU polymer were investigated from CCD digital imaging devices and Sellmyer equation, respectively. Polymeric 1 × 2 and Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) thermo-optic switches based on the ABHEPU as waveguide material at the infrared communication wavelength 1.55 μm were designed and simulated. Simulation results with FD-BPM method showed that the power consumption of 1 × 2 thermo-optic switch is only 0.58 mW; and the response times of 1 × 2 and MZI switches are 12 ms and 3.0 ms for the designed device. The switching time of the prepared ABHEPU polymer is much shorter than that of silica substrate.