Method for fabrication of integrated optical circuits

Claim 1

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a layer of synthetic resinous material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light and having a selected index of refraction on a substrate which comprises a material having an index of refraction less than said selected index of refraction; and (c) forming by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer.

Claim 2

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a layer of synthetic resinous material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light and having a selected index of refraction on a substrate which comprises a material having an index of refraction less than said selected index of refraction; and (c) forming by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer.

Claim 3

The method of making an integrated optical component, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a transparent thin conductive layer on a substrate having a selected index of refraction; (b) applying a thin film layer of thermoplastic material on said conductive layer, said thin film layer having an index of refraction which is greater than said selected index of refraction. (c) forming by locally electrically charging the exposed surface of said thermoplastic layer by electron beam deposition, a series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; and (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein.

Claim 4

The method of making an integrated optical component, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a transparent thin conductive layer on a substrate having a selected index of refraction; (b) applying a thin film layer of thermoplastic material on said conductive layer, said thin film layer having an index of refraction which is greater than said selected index of refraction. (c) forming by locally electrically charging the exposed surface of said thermoplastic layer by electron beam deposition, a series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; and (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein.

Claim 6

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous thermoplastic material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by heating said material to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformation of said thermoplastic material due to forces resulting from local charging thereof by an electron beam, forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, and then cooling said layer to freeze such deformations therein, said electron beam being scanned along a series of spaced, parallel paths to form a grating coupler in said layer, and an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 7

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous thermoplastic material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by heating said material to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformation of said thermoplastic material due to forces resulting from local charging thereof by an electron beam, forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, and then cooling said layer to freeze such deformations therein, said electron beam being scanned along a series of spaced, parallel paths to form a grating coupler in said layer, and an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 8

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous thermoplastic material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by heating said material to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformation of said thermoplastic material due to forces resulting from local charging thereof by an electron beam, forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, and then cooling said layer to freeze such deformations therein, an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 9

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous thermoplastic material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by heating said material to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformation of said thermoplastic material due to forces resulting from local charging thereof by an electron beam, forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, and then cooling said layer to freeze such deformations therein, an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 10

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous material capable of supporting guide wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, the electron beam being scanned along a series of spaced, parallel paths to form a grating coupler in said layer and an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 11

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous material capable of supporting guide wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, the electron beam being scanned along a series of spaced, parallel paths to form a grating coupler in said layer and an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 12

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, an area defining the planform shaped of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 13

The method of making an integrated optical circuit, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate a layer of synthetic resinous material capable of supporting guided wave propagation of coherent light; and (b) forming a series of aligned optical components in said layer by selected local impingement of a scanning electron beam directly on said layer, an area defining the planform shaped of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 14

The method of making an integrated optical component, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a thin conductive layer on a substrate; (b) applying a thin film layer of thermoplastic material on said conductive layer; (c) forming, by locally electrically charging the exposed surface of said thermoplastic layer by electron beam deposition, a series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; and (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein; step (c) including scanning the electron beam along a series of spaced, parallel paths to form a grating coupler in said layer and an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 15

The method of making an integrated optical component, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a thin conductive layer on a substrate; (b) applying a thin film layer of thermoplastic material on said conductive layer; (c) forming, by locally electrically charging the exposed surface of said thermoplastic layer by electron beam deposition, a series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; and (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein; step (c) including scanning the electron beam along a series of spaced, parallel paths to form a grating coupler in said layer and an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam.

Claim 16

The method of making an integrated optical component, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a thin conductive layer on a substrate; (b) applying a thin film layer of thermoplastic material on said conductive layer; (c) forming, by locally electrically charging the exposed surface of said thermoplastic layer by electron beam depostiion, a series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; and (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein; an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam in step (c).

Claim 17

The method of making an integrated optical component, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a thin conductive layer on a substrate; (b) applying a thin film layer of thermoplastic material on said conductive layer; (c) forming, by locally electrically charging the exposed surface of said thermoplastic layer by electron beam depostiion, a series of optical components optically aligned in said layer and which optically affect guided wave propagation of coherent light supported by said layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; and (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein; an area defining the planform shape of a negative lens being scanned by the electron beam in step (c).

Claim 18

The method of making an optical component usable with coherent light, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a conductive layer on a substrate; (b) forming a layer of thermoplastic dielectric material on said conductive layer; (c) forming a series of aligned optical components in said thermoplastic layer by positioning said substrate in predetermined relation to an electron beam gun and sweeping the electron beam from the gun over localized regions of said thermoplastic layer while controlling the intensity of said electron beam whereby locally to charge said thermoplastic layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein; (f) directing a laser beam onto said thermoplastic layer to test the accuracy of said local deformations therein while said substrate is still in predetermined position as defined in step (b); and thereafter (g) removing the substrate for use in a coherent optical system.

Claim 19

The method of making an optical component usable with coherent light, which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a conductive layer on a substrate; (b) forming a layer of thermoplastic dielectric material on said conductive layer; (c) forming a series of aligned optical components in said thermoplastic layer by positioning said substrate in predetermined relation to an electron beam gun and sweeping the electron beam from the gun over localized regions of said thermoplastic layer while controlling the intensity of said electron beam whereby locally to charge said thermoplastic layer; (d) heating said thermoplastic layer, while locally electrically charged as a result of step (c), to a temperature sufficient to permit local deformations of said thermoplastic layer due to the forces resulting from the local electrical charging thereof; (e) cooling said thermoplastic layer to freeze said local deformations therein; (f) directing a laser beam onto said thermoplastic layer to test the accuracy of said local deformations therein while said substrate is still in predetermined position as defined in step (b); and thereafter (g) removing the substrate for use in a coherent optical system.