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We present an all polymer asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometer (AMZI) waveguide sensor based on imprinting bonding and laser polishing method. The fabrication methods are compatible with high accuracy waveguide sensing structure. The rectangle waveguide structure of this sensor has three sensing surfaces contacting the test media, and its sensing accuracy can be increased 5 times compared with that of one surface sensing structure. An AMZI device structure is designed. The single mode condition, the length of the sensing arm, and the length deviation between the sensing arm and the reference arm are optimized. The length deviation is optimized to be in a refractive index range between 1.470 and 1.545. We fabricate the AMZI waveguide by lithography and wet etching method. The imprinting bonding and laser polishing method is proposed and investigated. The insertion loss is between −80.36 dB and −10.63 dB. The average and linear sensitivity are 768.1 dB/RIU and 548.95 dB/RIU, respectively. And the average and linear detection resolution of the sensor are 1.30 × 10−6 RIU (RIU: refractive index unit) and 1.82 × 10−5 RIU, respectively. This sensor has a fast and cost-effective fabrication process which can be used in the cases of requiring portability and disposability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cancer biology, there has been a recent effort to understand tumor formation in the context of the tissue microenvironment. In particular, recent progress has explored the mechanisms behind how changes in the cell-extracellular matrix ensemble influence progression of the disease. The extensive use of in vitro tissue culture models in simulant matrix has proven effective at studying such interactions, but modalities for non-invasively quantifying aspects of these systems are scant. We present the novel application of an imaging technique, Inverse Spectroscopic Optical Coherence Tomography, for the non-destructive measurement of in vitro biological samples during matrix remodeling. Our findings indicate that the nanoscale-sensitive mass density correlation shape factor D of cancer cells increases in response to a more crosslinked matrix. We present a facile technique for the non-invasive, quantitative study of the micro- and nano-scale structure of the extracellular matrix and its host cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a dual-side parabolic structural (DSPS) multimode interference (MMI) thermo–optic (TO) waveguide switch is designed and fabricated by using novel low-loss fluorinated photopolymer materials. Comparing with the traditional dual-side linear structural (DSLS) MMI device, the effective length of the MMI coupling region proposed can be effectively reduced by 40%. The thermal stability of the waveguide material is analyzed, and the optical characteristics of the switching chip are simulated. The actual performances of the entire MMI switch are measured with an insertion loss of 7 dB, switching power of 15 mW and an extinction ratio of 28 dB. In contrast to the traditional MMI optical switch, the new type of parabolic structural MMI TO waveguide switch exhibits lower power consumption and larger extinction ratio. The compact fluorinated polymer MMI TO switches are suitable well for realizing miniaturization, high-properties, and lower cost of photonic integrated circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, long-period waveguide grating-based tunable wavelength filters using organic–inorganic grafting poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) materials are designed and fabricated by metal-cladding directly defined technique. The thermal stabilities and optical properties of the organic–inorganic grafting PMMA core materials are analyzed. Structures and performance parameters of the waveguide gratings and self-electrode heaters are designed and simulated. The contrast of the filter is about 15 dB and the resonant wavelength can be tuned by different electric powers applied to the metal-cladding self-electrode heaters. The temperature sensitivity is 3.5 nm/°C and the switching time is about 1 ms. The technique is very suitable for realizing the optoelectronic integrated wavelength-division-multiplexing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible light variable optical attenuators (VOA) are essential devices in the application of channel power regulation and equalization in wavelength-division multiplexing cross-connect nodes in plastic optical fiber (POF) transmission systems. In this paper, a polymer/silica hybrid waveguide thermo–optic attenuator based on multimode interference (MMI) coupler is designed and fabricated to operate at 650 nm. The single-mode transmission condition, MMI coupler, and transition taper dimensions are optimized through the beam propagation method. Thermal analysis based on material properties provides the optimized heater placement angle. The fabricated VOA presents an attenuation of 26.5 dB with a 21-mW electrical input power at 650 nm. The rise time and fall time are 51.99 and 192 μs, respectively. The time–stability measurement results prove its working reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin film is one of the most widely used optical thin films. The fraction of chemical bondings has a great influence on the properties of the DLC film. In this work, DLC thin films are prepared by ion-beam sputtering deposition in Ar and CH4 mixtures with graphite as the target. The influences of the ion-beam voltage on the surface morphology, chemical structure, mechanical and infrared optical properties of the DLC films are investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. The results show that the surface of the film is uniform and smooth. The film contains sp2 and sp3 hybridized carbon bondings. The film prepared by lower ion beam voltage has a higher sp3 bonding content. It is found that the hardness of DLC films increases with reducing ion-beam voltage, which can be attributed to an increase in the fraction of sp3 carbon bondings in the DLC film. The optical constants can be obtained by the whole infrared optical spectrum fitting with the transmittance spectrum. The refractive index increases with the decrease of the ion-beam voltage, while the extinction coefficient decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]