Simulation and experimental verification of the thermal behaviour of self-written waveguides

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the optical response of a self-written waveguide (SWW) in detail by heating the structure from room temperature up to 60 °C. Previous results indicated a decrease in the optical transmission with increasing temperature for certain waveguide parameters. Based on new experimental measurements, we have identified material parameters resulting in opposite behaviour. An experimental setup was conceived to verify these results. Hereby, we were able to show that we can adjust material parameters such as refractive index and the corresponding density of the material by adapting the curing time applied during the fabrication of the waveguides. This, in turn, affects the material’s response during the heating process. We showed that a limitation of the external curing time changes the internal conditions of the SWW and the cladding in a manner that the numerical aperture increases with the temperature, which subsequently also results in an increase in the optical transmission. In this study, we explain this unexpected behavior of the SWW and point towards possible future applications. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland