Abstract
The connection loss which occurs when light transfers from one medium
to another attracts additional attention in high-speed and low-power optical
links. In this paper, we not only experimentally apply graded index polymer
optical waveguide (GI-POW) in the optical link, but also theoretically address
some key parameters which largely influence on the connection loss. The experimental
setup of this optical link is composed of a VCSEL module, a GI polymer optical
waveguide for the transmitter side (WGTx), a GI multimode fiber (GI-MMF),
a GI polymer optical waveguide for the receiver side (WGRx), and a detector.
We assume that WGTx is launched by a single mode fiber and then measure the
connection losses at the interface between any two components. The results
show the connection loss between the GI-MMF and the WGRx is approximately
0.4 dB higher than that of the WGTx to the GI-MMF. For the theoretical modeling,
we start from the fundamental scalar wave equation, and apply the finite difference
beam propagation method (FD-BPM) to simulate the behavior of light inside
the waveguide. Furthermore, Fresnel reflection between two media and the scattering
effect within polymer optical waveguides are also taken into account. The
simulated results show a similar trend to the measured values. Finally, we
conclude that the scattering effect could be one of the key issues of GI-POW
for maintaining low connection losses with other wave guides
and fibers.
© 2013 IEEE
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