1030 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 16, NO.

6, JUNE 1998

Low-Loss Polymeric Optical Waveguides Fabricated

with Deuterated Polyfluoromethacrylate
Ryoko Yoshimura, Makoto Hikita, Satoru Tomaru, and Saburo Imamura

Abstract— Deuterated polyfluoromethacrylate which has high

transparency, low birefringence and good processability was
newly synthesized for use as optical waveguide materials, and
both single-mode and multimode optical waveguides were fabri-
cated using the polymer. The propagation loss and waveguide
birefringence of the single-mode waveguides were as low as
0.10 dB/cm and 05.5 2 1006 at 1.31 m, respectively. The
propagation losses of the multimode waveguides were less than (a) (b)
0.02 dB/cm at both 0.68 and 0.83 m, and 0.07 dB/cm at 1.31 m.
Fig. 1. Chemical structure of monomers where RF denotes perfluoroalkyl.
Index Terms— Deuteration, fluorination, low birefringence, (a) d-MMA and (b) d-FMA.
low-loss, optical communication, optical interconnection, optical
waveguide, polymer.

I. INTRODUCTION

T ODAY, optical fiber has almost completely replaced

copper wire for long-haul transmission, and its use is now
extending to short distance systems such as interconnect and
access system applications. These systems require a vast num-
ber of passive optical components, such as splitters, combiners
and multi/demultiplexers. Excellent optical components have
already been realized using silica-based optical waveguides
[1], however, the cost issue has become one of the biggest
problems preventing widespread application.
Polymeric optical waveguides [2]–[9] have attracted a lot
of attention with a view to their future application as optical
components in the optical interconnect and access network
fields, because they can be produced inexpensively. In terms
of material, acrylic polymers such as polymethylmethacrylate
Fig. 2. Loss spectra of d-MMA and d-FMA compared to that of MMA.
(PMMA) are promising candidates for use in fabricating
polymeric optical components, because they have many advan-
tages such as high transparency, low birefringence and good multimode optical waveguides which are promising candidates
processability. With these advantages, PMMA-based materials for use as optical components for telecommunication, data-
are used for certain optical components, such as plastic optical communication and optical interconnections in the optical
fibers (POF’s) and plastic optical lenses. However, they are not network field.
widely used in the telecommunication area because they have
high optical loss in the infrared region (0.8–1.6 m).
II. POLYMER MATERIALS FOR OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES
In this paper, we describe the basic characteristics of poly-
meric optical waveguides fabricated using deuterated polyflu- Most polymers have high optical losses caused by C-H
oromethacrylate (d-PFMA) [10], [11]. These polymers have vibrational absorption in the infrared region (1.0–1.6 m). To
high transparency from the visible to infrared region because obtain polymer materials that have high transparency in the
of the elimination of C-H vibrational bond absorption [12] . 1.3 m wavelength region, we synthesized two monomers,
In addition, these polymers have good processability, good namely deuterated methylmethacrylate (d-MMA) and deuter-
refractive index controllability and very low birefringence. ated fluoromethacrylate (d-FMA), as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2
These advantages enabled us to produce both single-mode and shows the loss spectra of d-MMA and d-FMA compared to that
of methylmethacrylate (MMA). By replacing hydrogen with
Manuscript received August 15, 1997; revised February 20, 1998. deuterium or fluorine, the absorption is reduced and shifted
The authors are with NTT Opto-electronics Laboratories Nippon Telegraph
and Telephone Corporation Tokai, Ibaraki 319-11 Japan. to longer wavelengths. The two monomers (d-MMA and d-
Publisher Item Identifier S 0733-8724(98)04086-9. FMA) exhibit low loss both in the visible region and in the
0733–8724/98$10.00  1998 IEEE
YOSHIMURA et al.: LOW-LOSS POLYMERIC OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES
Fig. 3. Relationship between the d-PFMA fluorine content and refractive
index. Refractive indexes were measured at both 0.633 and 1.3 m.
Fig. 4. A d-PFMA film thickness as a function of solution viscosity where
the spin-speed was set at 1000 rpm.
1.3 m wavelength region. We synthesized waveguide material
polymers by the copolymerization of the two monomers.
We call these polymers deuterated polyfluoromethacrylate
(d-PFMA) in this paper. We synthesized several types of d-
PFMA, each with a different fluorine content, by altering the
copolymerization ratio of the monomers. A d-PFMA with 0%
fluorine content indicates deuterated polymethylmethacrylate
(d-PMMA).
It is important to control the refractive indexes of the core
and cladding materials when we design waveguide devices.
They must be controlled with a 0.001 order accuracy to design
and fabricate single-mode waveguide devices. Fig. 3 shows
the relationship between the d-PFMA fluorine content and
refractive index. The refractive index of d-PFMA decreases
as the fluorine content increases. We were able to control the
refractive index of polymers in the 1.363–1.484 range at 1.3
m (1.372–1.490 at 0.633 m) with an accuracy of better than
0.001 by altering the copolymerization ratio of the monomers.
Because the refractive index can be tuned continuously over
a wide range, we can make both low waveguides that are
highly compatible with conventional single-mode fibers and
high waveguides with small sizes using d-PFMA, where
is the refractive index difference between core and cladding. In
1031
Fig. 5. D-PFMA film thickness as a function of spin-speed where the fluorine
content was 14%.
Fig. 6. A differential scanning calorimetry trace of d-PFMA. The glass
transition temperature was 114  C.
addition, because the tuning range includes the refractive index
of silica glass, it is possible to make polymeric waveguides
that have low coupling and return losses with conventional
single-mode fibers.
For single-mode waveguide fabrication, it is important to
make high quality films whose thickness can be accurately
controlled. We dissolved d-PFMA in organic solvent, and the
solutions were cast and spin-coated to form polymer films.
We controlled the film thickness by controlling the solution
viscosity and the spin-speed. Fig. 4 shows d-PFMA film
thickness as a function of solution viscosity, where the spin-
speed was set at 1000 rpm. We found that the film thickness
increased as the viscosity increased and that this relation was
almost independent of fluorine content. Film thickness as a
function of spin-speed is shown in Fig. 5. Here we used d-
PFMA whose fluorine content was 14% and the polymer
solution had a viscosity of 430 mNs/m2 . We could control
the film thickness from a submicron level to about 20 m by
controlling the viscosity and the spin-speed.
Thermal stability is also an important issue with regard
to optical components. The thermal stability of polymeric
components is essentially determined by the glass transition
temperature of the polymer itself. Fig. 6 shows a differ-
ential scanning calorimetry trace of d-PFMA whose fluorine
1032
Fig. 7. Fabrication process of a polymeric optical waveguide.
Fig. 8. A scanning electron microscope photograph of a core ridge.
content was 2%. The glass transition temperature, which is
given by the inflection point of the trace, was 114 C. Since
was slightly dependent on the fluorine content, it was always
above 110 C when the fluorine content was less than 16%.
Therefore, d-PFMA waveguides is only suitable for use below
100 C.
III. SINGLE-MODE POLYMERIC OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES
A. Fabrication
We fabricated single-mode polymeric optical waveguides
by conventional photolithographic and dry etching processes
as shown in Fig. 7. First, a planar waveguide consisting of
core and buffer layers was fabricated on a substrate by spin
coating. Here, we used either a silicon or an acrylic substrate.
Then silicone-based positive photoresist (SPP) was spin-coated
on its surface. The channel waveguide patterns were formed
using photolithography. Then the core ridges were formed
by oxygen reactive ion etching (O2 RIE). As SPP has a
high resistance to O2 RIE, fine patterns formed in a very
JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 16, NO. 6, JUNE 1998
Fig. 9. A cross-section photograph of a single-mode polymeric optical
waveguide in the interaction region.
Fig. 10. A near-field pattern of a single-mode optical waveguide at 1.31 m.
thin top resist can be transferred into a thick bottom organic
polymer layer by O2 RIE. A scanning electron microscope
photograph of a core ridge (Fig. 8) shows that the side
walls were vertical and smooth. Finally, the core ridges were
covered with a spin-coated cladding layer. A cross-section
photograph of an embedded channel waveguide is shown in
Fig. 9. The photograph shows that cladding polymer covers the
rectangular cores and completely fills the narrow gap. Fig. 10
shows the near-field pattern at 1.31 m. Here, the core was 8
m wide and 8 m high, and the refractive index difference
between core and cladding was about 0.3%. It is confirmed
that single-mode operation is achieved at 1.31 m.
B. Loss Measurement
The loss spectra of the single-mode waveguides were mea-
sured using a spectrometer and a halogen light source. Here,
we used a single-mode fiber as an input fiber and a 50/125-
m graded-index (GI) multimode fiber as an output fiber,
where an index matching fluid was dropped between fibers
and waveguides in order to reduce coupling losses. In order
to examine the effect caused by deuteration, we made two
kinds of waveguide, that is, one had a d-PMMA core and
the other had a PMMA core. The cladding material of the
YOSHIMURA et al.: LOW-LOSS POLYMERIC OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES
Fig. 11. Loss spectrum of a d-PMMA core single-mode waveguide com-
pared to that of a PMMA core waveguide.
two waveguides was the same polymer (d-PFMA). The cores
were 8 m wide and 8 m high, and the refractive index
difference between the core and cladding was 0.3%. Their loss
spectra are shown in Fig. 11. The absorption of the d-PMMA
core waveguide was reduced in both the short ( 1 m) and
1.3 m wavelength region owing to the elimination of C-H
vibrational absorption. However, its absorption loss in the 1.55
m wavelength region was higher than that of the PMMA
core waveguide because there are higher harmonics of C-D
vibrational absorption in this region.
We measured the propagation loss of the d-PMMA core
waveguide at 1.31 m by the cutback method to examine
them more precisely. Here, we used single-mode fibers as
input and output fibers and a 1.31- m wavelength laser light
source. Fig. 12 shows the insertion losses of the waveguides as
a function of waveguide length. We measured five samples and
the average values and the distributions are shown in Fig. 12.
The propagation and coupling losses between a fiber and a
waveguide were calculated by line fitting to 0.10 dB/cm and
0.04 dB/point, respectively. The propagation loss at 1.31 m
was also measured using 57 cm-long test circuits and a ring
resonator, and the results confirmed that the propagation loss
was as low as 0.10 dB/cm [13], [14].
The propagation loss of the single-mode waveguide is a
little larger than that of the multimode waveguide at 1.3 m,
which is described in Section IV-B. Therefore, we believe that
the main component of the propagation loss of the single-
mode waveguides is the scattering loss due to structural
imperfections. We must develop a fabrication process which
provides smoother and more uniform core ridges and thus
further reduce their attenuation.
C. Waveguide Birefringence
Polarization dependence is an important issue when we
discuss the capabilities of optical devices. PMMA is a polymer
with very small birefringence, because its orientation bire-
fringence ratio and photoelastic constant are small compared
with other polymer materials. Since the chemical structure
1033
Fig. 12. The insertion losses of single-mode waveguides as a function of
waveguide length. The slope of the line shows that the propagation loss is
0.10 dB/cm. The intercept of the line to the vertical axis shows that the
coupling loss between a fiber and a waveguide is 0.04 dB per point.
of d-PFMA is similar to that of PMMA, the waveguide
birefringence of d-PFMA waveguides is very small, which
is one of the advantages of d-PFMA waveguides.
In order to investigate the effect that birefringence has on
practical devices, we measured the polarization dependence of
directional couplers as a first step. The directional coupler is
a fundamental element in optical integrated circuits and this
makes it a suitable device for use in determining whether or
not polarization independent couplers can be made from any
given optical waveguide material.
The polarization dependence of directional couplers fab-
ricated with d-PFMA was measured using a polarization-
maintaining fiber as an input fiber, a single-mode fiber as
an output fiber and a 1.31 m-wavelength laser light source.
Fig. 13 shows the insertion loss of the directional couplers as
a function of their interaction lengths. The overall length of
each coupler was 5 cm, and the height and width of the core
were both 8 m. The waveguide separation in the interaction
region of the directional couplers was 3 m, and the refractive
index difference between core and cladding was 0.3%. The
polarization dependence on the insertion loss of the directional
couplers was always be low the measurable limit (less than 0.1
dB), which means that the directional couplers we fabricated
with d-PFMA did not have any polarization dependent loss
or polarization dependent coupling ratio. We found that the
waveguide birefringence of d-PFMA waveguides is small and
that d-PFMA is a suitable material for optical integrated
circuits.
To evaluate the d-PFMA waveguide birefringence precisely,
we measured it using Senarmont ellipsometry, which is a
very sensitive method of measuring optical retardation. Fig. 14
shows the experimental setup. A 1.31 m wavelength laser
light, linearly polarized at an angle to the vertical axis
of the substrate, is coupled to the waveguide and becomes
elliptically polarized due to the retardation of the sample.
After passing through a -plate with its axis rotated at
the light changes again into linearly polarized light at an angle
We can determine this angle by rotating an analyzer
1034 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 16, NO. 6, JUNE 1998

Fig. 15. Optical retardation as a function of waveguide length.

Fig. 13. The insertion losses of directional couplers as a function of inter-

action length. The polarization dependence was always below the measurable
limit (less than 0.1 dB).

Fig. 14. Experimental setup for measuring optical retardation caused by

waveguide birefringence.

Fig. 16. A cross-section photograph of a multimode polymeric optical

waveguide.
perpendicular to the light so that the transmission becomes
minimum. The retardation is expressed by The
waveguide birefringence is calculated by

(1)

where is the wavelength of the light and is the waveguide

length. and are the effective refractive indexes of
the TM and TE modes, respectively.
The measured waveguide was made of -PFMA on a 4-in
silicon substrate, the core was 8 m wide and 8 m high and
the refractive index difference between the core and cladding
was set at 0.3%. Fig. 15 shows the retardation as a function
of the waveguide length. The waveguide birefringence Fig. 17. Loss spectrum of a d-PMMA core multimode waveguide compared
was calculated with (1) as being 5.5 10 6 , which is to that of a PMMA core waveguide.
2
about 10 smaller than that of a silica-based waveguide [1].
Taking advantage of the small birefringence, we have already
realized a polarization independent arrayed-waveguide grating described in Section III-A [16]. Here, we used d-PMMA as
multiplexer using d-PFMA [15]. the core and ultraviolet (UV) curable epoxy resin [17] for
the cladding. Of course, we could have chosen d-PFMA as
the cladding material, but we thought that UV curable epoxy
IV. MULTIMODE POLYMERIC OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES
resin was the better choice as the cladding for multimode
waveguides. Although it has a higher loss than d-PFMA,
A. Fabrication its absorption is sufficiently low in the 0.85 m wavelength
We fabricated multimode polymeric optical waveguides region which is usually used for multimode applications. Fur-
by spin-coating, photolithography and O2 -RIE, which are thermore, the thick films required for multimode waveguides
YOSHIMURA et al.: LOW-LOSS POLYMERIC OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES
(a)
(c)
Fig. 18. The insertion losses of d-PMMA and PMMA core multimode waveguides as a function of waveguide length. (a) 0.68
1.31 m, and (d) 1.55 m.
can be easily fabricated using the resin. We controlled both
the core size and the refractive index difference to minimize
the coupling loss between the waveguide and 50/125 m GI
multimode fiber. Fig. 16 is a photograph showing a cross
section of an embedded channel waveguide. The core was 42
m wide and 42 m high, and the refractive index difference
between the core and cladding was set at 1.2%.
B. Loss Measurement
We measured the loss spectrum of the multimode waveguide
using 50/125 m GI multimode fibers as input and output
fibers and a halogen lamp as a light source. Fig. 17 shows the
loss spectra of d-PMMA and PMMA core multimode waveg-
uides. The loss spectrum of the d-PMMA core multimode
waveguide is almost the same as that of the d-PMMA core
single-mode waveguide shown in Fig. 11, which means the
attenuation of the multimode waveguide is mainly determined
by that of the core material.
In order to examine their attenuation more precisely, we
measured the propagation losses of the multimode waveguides
by the cut-back method. Here, we used 20 and 10 m-long
50/125 m GI multimode fibers, respectively, as the input
and output fibers, and 0.68, 0.83, 1.31, 1.55 m lasers as
light sources. Fig. 18(a)–(d) show the insertion losses as a
function of waveguide length. The propagation losses are
represented as the tangent of the fitted lines in Fig. 18 (a)–(d),
1035
(b)
(d)
m, (b) 0.83 m, (c)
TABLE I
PROPAGATION LOSS OF MULTIMODE POLYMERIC OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES
and summarized in Table I. The propagation loss of the d-
PMMA core waveguide was lower than that of the PMMA
core wave guide at 0.68, 0.83, and 1.31 m, but higher at
1.55 m. The PMMA core waveguide has sufficiently low
loss at 0.68 and 0.83 m. However, it is important that the d-
PMMA core waveguide has extremely low loss ( 0.02 dB/cm)
in the 0.85 m wavelength region which is commonly used
in the field of optical interconnections, because some board-
or backplane-level optical interconnections require relatively
long (10 cm–1 m) interconnect media.
A study on plastic optical fibers (POF’s) has reported that
the propagation losses of d-PMMA core POF’s are 0.0002,
0.0005, and 0.03 dB/cm at 0.68, 0.85, and 1.3 m, re-
spectively [12], which suggests the possibility of a further
reduction in waveguide losses. We can consider many rea-
sons for the differences between the propagation losses of
these POF’s and our waveguides such as scattering as a
1036
result of impurities and waveguide structure imperfections,
absorption due to organic impurities, absorption caused by
the cladding polymer and O-H vibrational absorption resulting
from absorbed water.
The attenuation of the UV curable epoxy resin is approx-
imately 0.1 dB/cm at 0.68 and 0.83 m, and 0.5 dB/cm
at 1.3 m. On the other hand, the loss increment of d-
PMMA due to water absorption is negligible at 0.68 m,
but is assumed to be at worst 0.003 and 0.03 dB/cm at
0.83 and 1.31 m, respectively [13], [18]. Therefore, we
believe that we can reduce the propagation losses of the
multimode waveguides even further through the use of a more
transparent cladding polymer. Dehydration and waterproofing
are also effective in providing a further reduction, especially
at 1.3 m.
V. CONCLUSIONS
We synthesized new polymers (d-PFMA) for optical waveg-
uides and fabricated both single-mode and multimode poly-
meric optical waveguides using them.
The propagation loss of the d-PFMA based single-mode
waveguides was measured and found to be as low as 0.10
dB/cm at 1.31 m. The waveguide birefringence was also
measured using Senarmont ellipsometry and found to be
5.5 10 6 , which means the waveguide birefringence of
the polymeric waveguides is about 10 2 smaller than that
of silica-based waveguides. Since -PFMA based waveguides
have both low loss and low birefringence, they offer consider-
able potential for use as single-mode optical integrated circuits
in the field of optical communications.
The propagation losses of the -PFMA based multimode
waveguides were also measured and found to be as low as
0.011, 0.018, and 0.073 dB/cm at 0.68, 0.83 and 1.31 m,
respectively. Since these waveguides exhibit extremely low
loss in the 0.85 m region used for optical interconnec-
tions, they have great potential not only as a short distance
interconnect medium but also as a relatively long distance
interconnect medium for board- and backplane-level optical
interconnections.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank H. Kozawaguchi and T.
Izawa for their encouragement. They would also like to thank
H. Nakagome, Y. Hida, Y. Inoue and K. Onose for useful
discussions and support, and C. Tomiyoshi (NTT Advanced
Technology Corporation) for the help with waveguide fabri-
cation.
REFERENCES
[1] M. Kawachi, “Silica waveguides on silicon and their application to
integrated-optic components,” Opt. Quantum Electron., vol. 22, pp.
391–416, 1990.
[2] B. L. Booth, “Optical interconnection polymers,” in Polymers for
Lightwave and Integrated Optics, L. A. Hornak, Ed. New York: Marcel
Dekker, 1992, pp. 231–266.
JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 16, NO. 6, JUNE 1998
[3] A. Borreman, T. Hoekstra, M. Diemeer, H. Hoekstra, and P. Lambeck,
“Polymeric 8 2 8 digital optical switch matrix,” in Proc. ECOC’96,
1996, vol. 5, pp. 59–62.
[4] A. Neyer, T. Knoche, and L. Müller, “Fabrication of low loss polymer
waveguides using injection moulding technology,” Electron. Lett., vol.
29, pp. 399–401, 1993.
[5] R. Cush, M. J. Goodwin, W. J Stewart, S. Allen, D. J. Bone, E. L. Bone,
N. Carter, M. B. Cinderey, T. G. Harvey, D. E. Laidler, S. Quinn, T.
G. Ryan, J. E. Shearman, P. Summersgill, and A. J. Thorne, “Passive
polymer waveguide technology for low cost device fabrication,” in Proc.
OFC/IOOC’94, 1994, pp. 270–273.
[6] A. Rogner, and H. Pannhoff, “Characterization and qualification of
moulded couplers for POF-networks,” in Proc. Second Plastic Opt.
Fibers Appl. Conf., 1993, pp. 136–139.
[7] Y. S. Liu, R. J. Wonjnarowdki, W. A. Hennessy, J. P. Bristow, Y.
Liu, A. Peczalski, J. Rowlette, A. Plotts, J. Stack, M. Kadar-Kallen,
J. Yardley, L. Eldata, R. M. Osgood, R. Scarmozzino, S. H. Lee,
V. Ozgus, and S. Patra, “Polymer optical interconnect technology
(POINT)—Optoelectronic packaging and interconnect for board and
backplane ap plications,” in Proc. ECTC’96, 1996, pp. 308–315.
[8] G. Palmskog, G. Arvidsson, H. Elderstig, and O. Larsson, “Polymeric
microstructures technology for future low-cost, high-volume tele- and
datacom components,” Ericsson Rev., vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 98–104, 1996.
[9] M. Usui, M. Hikita, T. Watanabe, M. Amano, S. Sugawara, S.
Hayashida, and S. Imamura, “Low-loss passive polymer optical
waveguides with high environmental stability,” J. Lightwave Technol.,
vol. 14, pp. 2338–2343, 1996.
[10] S. Imamura, R. Yoshimura, and T. Izawa, “Polymer channel waveguides
with low loss at 1.3 m,” Electron. Lett., vol. 27, pp. 1342–1343, 1991.
[11] N. Ooba, S. Imamura, R. Yoshimura, A. Kaneko, T. Kurihara, M. Hikita,
Y. Hida, and Y. Hibino, “Photonic device applications of low loss
acrylic polymer waveguides,” in Proc. ACS/PMSE’96, 1996, vol. 75,
pp. 362–363.
[12] T. Kaino, “Preparation of plastic optical fibers for near-IR region
transmission,” J. Polymer. Sci., pt. A, vol. 25, pp. 37–46, 1987.
[13] Y. Hida, and S. Imamura, “Influence of temperature and humidity
change on optical waveguide circuits composed of deuterated and
fluorinated methacrylate polymers,” Japan J. Appl. Phys., vol. 34, pt.
1, pp. 6416–6422, 1995.
[14] Y. Hida, S. Imamura, and T. Izawa, “Ring resonator composed of
low loss polymer waveguides at 1.3 m,” Electron. Lett., vol. 28, pp.
1314–1315, 1992.
[15] Y. Hida, Y. Inoue, and S. Imamura, “Polymeric arrayed-waveguide
grating multiplexer operating around 1.3 m,” Electron. Lett., vol. 30,
pp. 959–960, 1994.
[16] R. Yoshimura, M. Hikita, S. Tomaru, and S. Imamura, “Very low loss
multimode polymeric optical waveguides,” Electron. Lett., vol. 33, pp.
1240–1242, 1997.
[17] N. Murata, and K. Nakamura, “UV-curable adhesives for optical com-
munications,” J. Adhesion, vol. 35, pp. 251–267, 1991.
[18] T. Kaino, “Plastic optical fibers,” in Polymers for Lightwave and
Integrated Optics, L. A. Hornak, Ed. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1992,
pp. 1–38.
Ryoko Yoshimura was born in Ibaraki, Japan, on
April 19, 1964. He received the B.S. and M.S.
degrees in physics from Keio University, Japan, in
1987 and 1989, respectively.
He joined the NTT Basic Research Laboratories,
Ibaraki, Japan, in 1989. He has been engaged in
the research and development of polymeric optical
waveguides for optical communication and opti-
cal interconnection since 1989 and is currently a
Research Engineer at NTT Opto-electronics Labo-
ratories.
Mr. Yoshimura is a member of the Institute of Electronics, Information,
and Communication Engineers (IEICE) of Japan and the Japan Society of
Applied Physics.
YOSHIMURA et al.: LOW-LOSS POLYMERIC OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES 1037

Makoto Hikita was born in Tokyo, Japan, on De-
cember 3, 1950. He received the B.E. and M.E.
degrees in instrumentation engineering from Keio
University, Japan, in 1973 and 1975, respectively,
and the Ph.D. degree in physics from Osaka Uni-
versity, Japan, in 1990.
In 1975, he joined NTT Musashino Electrical
Communication Laboratories, Tokyo, where he en-
gaged in research on superconducting telecommu-
nication cables. In 1977, he moved to NTT Ibaraki
Electrical Communication Laboratories, where he
was engaged in research on superconducting materials, Josephson devices,
Anderson localization, and superconducting physics. Since 1992, he has been
engaged in the development of electrooptic and passive polymer optical
component devices. He is presently a Senior Research Engineer at NTT Opto-
electronics Laboratories, Ibaraki, Japan.
Dr. Hikita is a member of the Institute of Electronics, Information and
Communication Engineers (IEICE) of Japan, the Physical Society of Japan,
the Society of Polymer Science of Japan, and the Japan Society of Applied
Physics.
Saburo Imamura was born in Kagoshima, Japan,
on March 12, 1951. He received the B.E. degree
from Kagoshima University, Japan, in 1973 and the
M.E. and D.E. degrees from Kyushu University,
Japan, in 1975 and 1987, repsectively.
In 1975, he joined NTT Electrical Communi-
cation Laboratories, Ibaraki, Japan. He has been
engaged in the research and development of resist
materials and polymer materials for optoelectronics.
Dr. Imamura is a member of the Institute of Elec-
tronics, Information, and Communication Engineers
(IEICE) of Japan, the Chemical Society of Japan, the Society of Polymer
Science of Japan, and the Japan Society of Applied Physics.

Satoru Tomaru was born in Tokyo, Japan, on

March 10, 1953. He received the B.E. and M.E.
degrees in applied chemistry from the University of
Tokyo, Japan, and received the Ph.D. degree from
the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan.
After joining Ibaraki Electrical Communication
Laboratories, NTT, Japan, in 1978, he was engaged
in the development of optical fibers for communi-
cations use. He is currently a Senior Research Engi-
neer, Supervisor, at the Materials Technology Labo-
ratory, NTT Opto-electronics Laboratories, Ibaraki,
Japan, where he is presently working on optical waveguide materials and
devices.
Dr. Tomaru is a member of the Institute of Electronics, Information, and
Communication Engineers (IEICE) of Japan, the Chemical Society of Japan,
the Society of Polymer Science of Japan, and the Japan Society of Applied
Physics.