Patent · US Expired

Optical waveguide having curved reflecting mirror surface and method of manufacturing the same

US7218825B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
7References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 22, 2005
Grant dateMay 15, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 22, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02B2006/12104
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The present invention relates to an optical waveguide having a curved reflecting mirror surface for optical coupling and a method of manufacturing it. The method of manufacturing an optical waveguide includes the steps of coating a transparent glass substrate with a photosensitive material; radiating ultraviolet rays onto the photosensitive material through a mask in which the shape of the optical waveguide and partition blocks formed beside ends of the optical waveguide are patterned; manufacturing a photoresist stamp by developing patterns onto which the ultraviolet ray has been radiated through the mask; forming a PolyDiMethylSiloxane (PDMS) mold by coating the photo stamp with PDMS, and forming a core; forming the optical waveguide, in which the partition blocks are formed beside the ends thereof, using the PDMS mold; and dropping liquid polymer between the partition blocks formed beside the ends of the optical waveguide using an inkjet header and hardening it. This structure and manufacturing method have advantage in that optical waveguides having variously shaped reflecting mirror surfaces are simply and economically manufactured.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.