Metal-print-defining thermo-optic tunable chirped waveguide Bragg gratings using organic-inorganic hybrid PMMA materials

In this work, thermo-optic (TO) tunable chirped waveguide Bragg gratings based on organic-inorganic hybrid PMMA material are achieved using the metal-print-defining technique. The molecular structural characteristics and thermal stabilities of the polymer grafting materials are analyzed. Structural parameters of the chirped waveguide gratings and self-electrode heaters are designed and performances of the entire device are simulated. The contrast value of the reflection band is about 15 dB between 1530 and 1570 nm. The actual thermo-optic sensitivity of the chirped grating is 0.2 nm/K. The time delay is obtained as 112 ps and the group velocity dispersion is measured as 2.1 ps/nm. This technique is very beneficial for achieving the dispersion-compensating optical communication system.