POLYMER GELATIN MICROSTRUCTURE WAVEGUIDES IN CONJUNCTION WITH HOLOGRAPHIC OPTICAL ELEMENTS

IN THIS PROGRAM, A NEW POLYMER MICROSTRUCTURE GRADED-INDEX (GRIN) IS BEING INVESTIGATED FOR OPTOELECTRONIC APPLICATIONSON THE DEVICE AND SYSTEM LEVEL. THE GRIN HAS BEEN PROVED TOFORM GUIDING LAYERS ON ANY SMOOTH SURFACE, INCLUDING CONDUCTORS, SEMICONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS, DESPITE ITS LOW REFRACTIVE INDEX (APPROXIMATELY 1.5). THE POLYMER FILM SIZEFORMED IS AT LEAST TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LARGE THAN THE STATE OF THE ART FORMATION SYSTEMS SUCH A MOLYBDENUM OXIDE CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (MOCVD) AND MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY(MBE). THE FABRICATION PROCESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE POLYMER MICROSTRUCTURE IS CLAIMED TO BE SIMPLE, AND MUCH LESS COST THAN EITHER MOCVD OR MBE. THE PROCESSED THIN FILM OF THE POLY MICROSTRUCTURE ALSO PROVIDES GRADED INDEX DISTRIBUTION. THE WAVEGUIDE QUALITY IS EXCELLENT (LOSS LESS THAN 1DB PER CM) ON LINBO3, GAAS, GLASS, AND ALUMINUM SUBSTRATES. LOCALLY SENSITIZING THE POLYMER WAVEGUIDE WITH AMMONIA DICHROMATE WILL ALLOW INTEGRATED SINGLE AND MULTIPLE HOLOGRAMS IN THE SELECTED AREA, PROVIDING NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS. WHEN SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROGRAM CAN RESULT IN A RELIABLE AND COST EFFECTIVE OPTOELECTRONIC SYSTEM COVERING THE VISIBLE AND INFRARED REGIONS, WITH NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS IN MILITARY ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF THIS STRUCTURE INCLUDE VLSI OPTICAL INTERCONNECTS, SIGNAL PROCESSING AND COMPUTING DEVICES.