Polymer based sub-micrometer device for optical applications

We have fabricated a polymer solid-state microstructure for optical application by two-photon-induced polymerization technique. The photopolymerization resin contains conventional laser-dye and dendrimer. A dendrimer can encapsulate the laser-dyes, limiting cluster formation and intermolecular energy transfer, and promising a high level of optical gain. The effect can be extended to prepare an optically active microstructure using the two-photon-induced polymerization technique. We fabricated a polymeric microcavity, which consisted of <400 nm-linewidth strips arranged in layer-by-layer structure. The periodic variation in the refractive index gave rise to Bragg reflection. A laser emission was measured in the microcavity under optical excitation. The spectral linewidth was about 0.1 nm above the lasing threshold. We investigate both the material functions in the molecular scale and controlling the device structure for desired applications such as a polymer DFB and photonic crystal.