Polymer variable optical attenuator arrays: pathway from material platform to qualified telecom product

A variety of material platforms including glass, lithium niobate, and polymer are being utilized for opto-electronic components. Among these, high performance thermo-optic polymers are particularly advantageous for active telecom applications because they possess a unique suite of properties including large thermo-optic coefficient, high thermal stability, refractive index tenability, and compatibility with high-volume wafer scale processing. In this paper, we discuss our approach for material selection and its relation to device design optimization in a Si-polymer based variable optical attenuator array. We outline the key material and device design trade-offs and show that Si-polymer based devices can meet and exceed the reliability requirements for telecom components. To this end, performance, qualification testing, and key properties that are related to high reliability and device lifetime are addressed.