A new simple method of fabricating micro/nano-scale polymer optical wires on a copper plate

We developed a novel and simple method of fabricating micro/nano-scale polymer optical wires on a copper plate. We first wet-etch the copper surface to form micro-channels, which are then coated with polymer cladding material and filled with polymer core material to form optical wires. The cladding layer not only helps improve the smoothness of the inner surfaces of the etched micro-channels, but also prevent light absorption and scattering loss caused by surface roughness of the etched channels. The measured propagation loss of the fabricated polymer wire was -0.3dB/cm by cut-back method. This opens up new possibilities for integration of optical wires and electrical circuits on planar platforms such as electrical printed circuit boards (PCBs).