title: Heat-resistant flexible-film optical waveguides from fluorinated polyimides.
abstract: Heat-resistant flexible-film optical waveguides were fabricated from fluorinated polyimides. These waveguides operated in single mode and had low optical loss (0.3 dB/cm) at a wavelength of 1.3 microm for TE and TM polarizations. They also had good flexibility: The optical loss did not significantly change above a minimum radius of curvature of less than 20 mm. The birefringence of 9 x 10(-5) between the TE and TM polarizations is 2 orders of magnitude smaller than that for a waveguide upon a substrate. Moreover, these waveguides had high thermal stability and moisture resistance: The optical loss and single-mode behavior changed little after heating the waveguides at 420 degrees C for 1 h or after their exposure to 85% relative humidity at 85 degrees C for more than 350 h.
authors.affiliation: NTT, 3-9-11 Midori-cho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maruno
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yamamoto