Fan-in/out polymer optical waveguide for a multicore fiber fabricated using the Mosquito method

A fan-in/out polymer optical waveguide is fabricated for connecting multimode multicore (7 cores) fiber with one-dimensionally aligned parallel optical components such as a VCSEL/PD array or a multimode fiber ribbon, which is fabricated using the Mosquito method. The Mosquito method we have proposed is a fabrication technique for circular and graded index (GI) cores. One of the unique characteristics of the Mosquito method is a capability of forming three-dimensional wirings. In the fan-in/out waveguides, high-density hexagonal alignment of 7 cores at one end is converted to one dimensional alignment with a wider pitch at the other end. For realizing the fan-in/out waveguides, we have issues about low insertion loss, low crosstalk, and the connectability with multicore fibers and optical components. In this paper, we focus in the pitch accuracy of the fan-in/out waveguide. In the Mosquito method, the viscosities of the core and cladding monomers are an important factor of the core figure and the core alignment because the viscosities have a relation to monomer liquid-flow, which could devastate the core alignment. Hence, we investigate the influence of the viscosities of the core and cladding monomers on the interchannel pitch accuracy of the fabricated fan-in/out polymer optical waveguide. With increasing the viscosities of core and cladding monomers, the pitch accuracy is improved, while the appropriate monomer viscosity conditions that can fix all the issues: core circularity and pitch accuracy in both ends still needs to be investigated.