ORMOCER®s for Optical Interconnection Technology

New inorganic-organic hybrid polymers (ORMOCER®s) for integrated optical and opto-electronic devices were synthesized by sol-gel processing of functionalized alkoxysilanes. Process parameters (catalyst, temperature etc.) were optimized to achieve highly reproducible low cost materials which are photopatternable even in higher layer thickness (presently 100 m within one step).The resulting materials have low optical losses at the most important wavelengths for telecommunications in the NIR range (0.3 dB/cm at 1320 nm, 0.6 dB/cm at 1550 nm) and a variety of additional advantageous properties for optical interconnection technology and production of opto-electronic devices: good wetting and adhesion on various substrates (e.g. glass, silicon and several polymers), low processing temperatures (post-bake at 150°C) and high thermal stability (decomposition at 270°C) compared to alternative opto-polymers for NIR applications. A further advantage is a tunable refractive index, which can be achieved by mixing different resins.