Silicon phthalocyanine/methyl methacrylate copolymer slab directional couplers for all‐optical switching

Slab waveguide directional couplers were fabricated from the third‐order nonlinear optical polymer silicon phthalocyanine/methyl methacrylate 2/98 copolymer as the active material and poly(methyl methacrylate) as the cladding layer. The monomethacrylate copolymer was synthesized, device fabrication conditions determined, and five‐layer slab directional couplers fabricated. Completed couplers demonstrated waveguide loss on the order of 5 dB/cm and coupling lengths of 0.5 mm at 1.29 μm. These vertically coupled devices may be useful for all‐optical switching. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.