Rotative printing technologies are an approach to manufacturing polymer optical waveguides with high throughput for applications such as electro-optical circuit boards (EOCB) or smart packaging. Processes presumably originating in graphical applications apply defined amounts of polymer onto a polymer substrate. Unlike graphical printing, the use of these processes to manufacture functional waveguides underlies different requirements regarding material transfer, structure of the printed polymer, and multi-layer stacking of functional layers. This work applies the manufacturing processes gravure printing and flexographic printing to realize waveguide cores onto PMMA substrates. Therefore, a modular printing machine with high positional accuracy between multiple printed layers is used. The waveguides are further cladded with another PMMA substrate using thermal lamination. The processes are evaluated according to waveguide geometry and optical parameters. Material transfer per layer, resulting geometrical quality, and aspect ratio of the waveguides are compared regarding their manufacturing process. Functional tests are conducted as optical attenuation measurements to evaluate the waveguide's macro range performance. Using these results, the potentials of each process for an upcoming production of fully-printed cladded waveguides are determined and showcased.
Printing optical waveguides is an approach to the high volume implementation of optical data transmission in conventional electronic systems. Flexographic printing enables the manufacturing of circular segment-shaped polymer waveguides on planar substrates, which show great potential as economic Gbit/s-capable short-range networks. This work describes a process chain to manufacture and integrate a printed optical data transmission path in conventional printed circuit boards (PCB). This sequence of processes gives an outlook on up-scaling utilizing printed optical waveguides to mass manufacturing. Since the significant challenge in integration is achieving sufficient optical coupling, geometrical tolerances are investigated using raytracing simulation. Relevant degrees of freedom of the laser diode and waveguide are varied and validated by measuring alignment profiles. As a result, the mechanical interface provided by the PCB is presented and validated by confocal measurements. An innovative pick and place tool assembles the separated flexible waveguide to realize a demonstration system. As a validation, Fast Ethernet data transmission is presented over a flexible optical connection. In further steps, a miniaturization of the system is the goal to achieve a standardized system for applications like galvanic isolation.
Printing of optical waveguides is an approach to large-volume implementation of optical data transmission in conventional electronic systems. Flexographic printing can be used to apply optical waveguides with circular-segment cross-sections to planar substrates. In this work, a concept for integrating printed optical waveguides into printed circuit boards (PCBs) is investigated, taking the requirements of industrial processing into account. A planar waveguide structure model is defined that is applicable to lamination processes used in PCB manufacturing. Due to thermal stress on the substrate during this process, polymer waveguides are printed on polyimide (PI) substrate. To ensure optical functionality, matching refractive indices in the form of printed cladding structures are required. Manufacturing multilayer waveguide structures requires new processes for generating the end facets of the waveguide core. To reduce the attenuation caused by optical coupling, one primary requirement is low facet roughness. In this paper, we present a way to flexographic print fully cladded waveguides on PI substrates. Different waveguide layer compositions are characterized with respect to their geometry by confocal measurements. Milling with monocrystalline diamond cutters is presented as a method for preparing the end facets. Finally, the attenuation of the prepared waveguides is measured and discussed as a function of the waveguide and end facet properties. By this, flexographic printed and ready-to-integrate waveguides are achieved, approaching the target of optical PCBs.
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