Development of 3D Printed Polymer-Based Photonic Components for Telecommunications Applications

Development of novel photonic components manufactured using a 3D Nanoscribe printer with applications in Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for optical wired and wireless communications. This research will demonstrate impact by presenting innovative ways to design components in a faster and simpler way allowing for rapid prototyping, and improving the performance of devices in terms of speed and bandwidth in order to build communication systems. The project was awarded by EDGE-Marie Curie programme and carried out in Trinity College Dublin within CRANN, AMBER Centres as well as within CONNECT Centre. A continuation of the project will be carried out with Pilot Photonics through funding from Science Foundation Ireland within the SFI Industry fellowship programme.

 

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(a) Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT, (b) SEM image of a planar lens with dimensions (x,y,z):50x50x5 µm, (c) SEM image of a concave lens with dimensions (x,y,z): 16.5x100x9.7 µm, (d)Image of a cylindrical waveguide under fabrication with dimensions (x,y,z): 20x20x200 µm, (e) Optical microscope image (dark field) of a cylindrical waveguide with dimensions (x,y,z): 20x20x200 µm, (f) SEM image of an Easter Rabbit with dimensions (l,w,h): 30x18x20 µm