# US 2010/0166380 A1 · Polymer optical waveguide and method for production thereof

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- Number: US 2010/0166380 A1
- Document ID: US20100166380A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 12/543,045
- Filed: 2009-08-18
- Published: 2010-07-01
- Earliest claimed: 2008-12-26
- Assignees: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Akira FUJII; Shigemi OHTSU; Keishi SHIMIZU; Kazutoshi YATSUDA; Toshihiko SUZUKI; Masahiro IGUSA
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100166380A1

## CPC

- G02B 6/43: Arrangements comprising a plurality of opto-electronic elements and associated optical interconnections
- B32B 38/04: Punching, slitting or perforating
- B32B 2309/105: Thickness
- B32B 2551/00: Optical elements
- Y10T 156/1082: Partial cutting bonded sandwich [e.g., grooving or incising]
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- B32B: LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
- Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION

## Abstract

A polymer optical waveguide includes: at least one core through which light propagates; a cladding which surrounds the core and has a refractive index less than that of the core; at least one conductive wire being provided on at least one side of the cladding, the polymer optical waveguide having a sheet shape, the conductive wire including a conductive layer which is provided on the at least one side of the cladding and being partitioned by a first groove, and the core being formed between second grooves each of which is formed in at least a part of the first groove.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A polymer optical waveguide, comprising:
at least one core through which light propagates;
a cladding which surrounds the core and has a refractive index less than that of the core;
at least one conductive wire being provided on at least one side of the cladding,
the polymer optical waveguide having a sheet shape,
the conductive wire comprising a conductive layer which is provided on the at least one side of the cladding and being partitioned by a first groove, and
the core being formed between second grooves each of which is formed in at least a part of the first groove.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The polymer optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein the first groove and the second grooves are each filled with a dielectric material.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The polymer optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the first groove is located in the cladding at a position between the conductive wire and the core.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The polymer optical waveguide according to claim 1, further comprising an adhesive layer provided between the conductive wire and the cladding.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The polymer optical waveguide according to claim 4, wherein the bottom of the first groove is located in the adhesive layer.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The polymer optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the first groove serves as one surface of the core.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The polymer optical waveguide according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the second grooves are formed inside of the first groove, and a width of the first groove is greater than a distance between the two of the plurality of the second grooves that are the farthest from each other.

### Claim 8

A method of producing a polymer optical waveguide, comprising:
preparing a multilayer sheet in which a first layer serving as a first cladding, a second layer serving as a core and having a refractive index greater than that of the first layer, and a third layer serving as a second cladding and having a refractive index less than that of the second layer, are stacked in this order, and in which a metal layer is stacked on at least one of the first layer or the third layer;
cutting the multilayer sheet in a thickness direction thereof from the metal layer side using a first blade to form a first groove that partitions the metal layer, to thereby form a conductive wire; and
cutting at least a part of the base of the first groove in the thickness direction using a second blade to form at least one second groove, to thereby form one of lateral surfaces of the core.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of producing a polymer optical waveguide according to claim 8, wherein a width of the first blade is larger than that of the second blade.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method of producing a polymer optical waveguide according to claim 8, wherein the first groove and the second grooves are each filled with a dielectric material.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The method of producing a polymer optical waveguide according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of the second grooves are formed inside of the first groove, and a width of the first groove is larger than a distance between the two of the plurality of the second grooves which are the farthest from each other.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method of producing a polymer optical waveguide according to claim 8, wherein in the cutting using the second blade, two second grooves are formed in such a manner that portions of the polymer optical waveguide that include two lateral surfaces of the first groove are cut.