Laser ablated coupling structures for stacked optical interconnections on printed circuit boards

Laser ablation is presented as a versatile technology that can be used for the definition of arrays of multimode waveguides and coupling structures in a stacked two layer optical structure, integrated on a printed circuit board (PCB). The optical material, Truemode BackplaneTM Polymer, is fully compatible with standard PCB manufacturing and shows excellent ablation properties. A KrF excimer laser is used for the ablation of both waveguides and coupling structures into the optical layer. The stacking of individual optical layers containing waveguides, that guide the light in the plane of the optical layer, and coupling structures, that provide out-of-plane coupling and coupling between different optical layers, is very interesting since it allows us to increase the integration density and routing possibilities and limit the number of passive components that imply a certain loss. Experimental results are presented, and surface roughness and profile measurements are performed on the structured elements for further characterization. Numerical simulations are presented on the tolerance on the angle of the coupling structures and the influence of tapering on the coupling efficiency of the waveguides.