Process for producing polymer optical waveguide

A process for producing a polymer optical waveguide, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a mold by applying a mold-forming elastomer layer onto a surface of a master template having formed thereon a convex portion that corresponds to a core portion, peeling the layer from the master template to obtain a template, and cutting both ends of the template to expose a concave portion that corresponds to the convex portion of the master template;
• bringing into close contact with a surface having the concave portion of the mold a cladding substrate which has good adhesiveness to the mold;
• introducing, by capillarity, a curable resin which forms the core into the concave portion of the mold by contacting the curable resin with one or more resin input ports and/or resin input portions;
• and
• curing the introduced curable resin,
• wherein one through hole or multiple through holes arranged at regular intervals in a longitudinal direction of the core portion are opened to communicate from another surface opposite to the surface of the mold that is brought into close contact with the cladding substrate to the concave portion, thereby forming the one or more resin input ports or one or more resin output ports in order for both the cut ends of the mold to be used as resin input portions;
• and after the curable resin is introduced into the concave portion, a resin pushing member is inserted into each of the one or more resin input ports and/or the one or more resin output ports to a depth obtained by subtracting a height of the convex portion from a thickness of the mold, to thereby perform the step of introducing the curable resin into the concave portion of the mold by capillarity.

A process for producing a polymer optical waveguide, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a mold by applying a mold-forming elastomer layer onto a surface of a master template having formed thereon a convex portion that corresponds to a core portion, peeling the layer from the master template to obtain a template, and cutting both ends of the template to expose a concave portion that corresponds to the convex portion of the master template;
• bringing into close contact with a surface having the concave portion of the mold a cladding substrate which has good adhesiveness to the mold;
• introducing, by capillarity, a curable resin which forms the core into the concave portion of the mold by contacting the curable resin with one or more resin input ports;
• and
• curing the introduced curable resin,
• wherein one through hole or multiple through holes arranged at regular intervals in a longitudinal direction of the core portion are opened to communicate from another surface opposite to the surface of the mold that is brought into close contact with the cladding substrate to the concave portion, thereby forming the one or more resin input ports or one or more resin output ports in order for both the cut ends of the mold to be used as resin output portions;
• and after the curable resin is introduced into the concave portion, a resin pushing member, in which a refractive index of a portion from a tip thereof to a portion thereof corresponding to a height of the convex portion is equal to that of the curable resin and a refractive index of other portions of the member is lower than that of the curable resin, is inserted into each of the one or more resin input ports and/or the one or more resin output ports so that the tip thereof is brought into close contact with the cladding substrate, to thereby perform the step of introducing the curable resin into the concave portion of the mold by capillarity.

A process for producing a polymer optical waveguide, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a mold by applying a mold-forming elastomer layer onto a surface of a master template having formed thereon a convex portion that corresponds to a core portion, peeling the layer from the master template to obtain a template, and cutting both ends of the template to expose a concave portion that corresponds to the convex portion of the master template;
• bringing into close contact with a surface having the concave portion of the mold a cladding substrate which has good adhesiveness to the mold;
• introducing, by capillarity, a curable resin which forms the core into the concave portion of the mold by contacting the curable resin with one or more resin input ports and/or resin input portions;
• and
• curing the introduced curable resin,
• wherein one through hole or multiple through holes arranged at regular intervals in a longitudinal direction of the core portion are opened to communicate from another surface opposite to the surface of the mold that is brought into close contact with the cladding substrate to the concave portion, thereby forming the one or more resin input ports or one or more resin output ports in order for both the cut ends of the mold to be used as resin input portions;
• and after the curable resin is introduced into the concave portion, a resin pushing member, in which a refractive index of a portion from a tip thereof to a portion thereof corresponding to a height of the convex portion is equal to that of the curable resin and a refractive index of other portions of the member is lower than that of the curable resin, is inserted into each of the one or more resin input ports and/or the one or more resin output ports so that the tip thereof is brought into close contact with the cladding substrate, to thereby perform the step of introducing the curable resin into the concave portion of the mold by capillarity.