How does the Optical CrossLinks GuideLink™ material and processing compare with other low loss polymer materials?
• First, other polymer materials used in waveguide applications utilize embossing or spin-coating processing techniques. Both techniques create sidewalls with uneven surfaces which contribute significantly to the entire “system loss”. Optical CrossLinks’ (OXL) GuideLink™ system uses a monomer diffusion process to inherently embed the waveguide structure. Our process creates loss-less sidewalls. Second, the OXL process can match the mode-field profile to the inputs and outputs. Usually our waveguides are designed as square guides which increases the coupling efficiency from waveguide into fiber. To compare technologies accurately, the total system loss must be calculated and measured.
