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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Planar waveguides from a photocross-linkable polymer have been fabricated on glass and Si0 2 on silicon using the spin coating process. The polymer has been cross-linked by exposure to UV radiation (λ = 254nm). Prism coupling technique has been used to couple a laser beam into the waveguide structure. The waveguiding parameters such as number of modes, loss, thickness, and index of refraction of the polymer have been determined before and after crosslinking. The refractive index of the polymer before cross-linking differs significantly from that after cross-linking. No anisotropy has been observed in the refractive indices for the uncross-linked or cross-linked samples. The refractive index and thickness of the polymer film before and after cross-linking have also been measured using an ellipsometer and found to be in very good agreement with those obtained by the prism coupling technique. Dye molecules with large second order hyperpolarizability were utilized as guests into the photocross-linkable polymer matrix for second order nonlinear optical applications. Electro-optic properties of this polymeric system are reported.