Additive Manufactured Waveguide for E-Band Using Ceramic Materials

Ceramic materials are chemical- and temperature-resistant and, therefore, enable novel application fields ranging from automotive to aerospace. With this in mind, this contribution focuses on developing an additive manufacturing approach for 3D-printed waveguides made of ceramic materials. In particular, a special design approach for ceramic waveguides, which introduces non-radiating slots into the waveguides sidewalls, and a customized metallization process, are presented. The developed process allows for using conventional stereolithographic desktop-grade 3D-printers. The proposed approach has, therefore, benefits such as low-cost fabrication, moderate handling effort and independence of the concrete waveguide geometry. The performance of a manufactured ceramic WR12 waveguide is compared to a commercial waveguide and a conventionally printed counterpart. For that reason, relevant properties, such as surface roughness and waveguide geometry, are characterized. Parsing the electrical measurements, the ceramic waveguide specimen features an attenuation coefficient of 30–60 dB/m within the E-Band. The measured attenuation coefficient is 200% and 300% higher compared to the epoxy resin and the commercial waveguide and is attributed to the increased surface roughness of the ceramic substrate.

Characterization of GeSbSe based slot optical waveguides

Background: Among various chalcogenides, GeSbSe shows a good transmittance in the visible, NIR and, midIR spectrum from 1-20 μm and also demonstrates excellent moldability. <P> Objective: In current work, we have characterized GeSbSe glass for use in sensor mechanism and for adaptive polarization control. <P> Methods: After analysing an earlier work regarding GeSbSe based Silicon on insulator optical waveguide, we have implemented GeSbSe in low refractive index slot region of SOI slot optical waveguide. Change in waveguide geometry can cause a shift in the dispersion profile, but a relatively distinct pattern has been observed. T-slot waveguide structure has also been analysed, where GeSbSe has been implemented in low refractive index slot regions with Graphene layer beneath the horizontal slot region for enhancement in tailoring ability of the birefringence parameters. <P> Results: Literature review led to the presence of absorption resonance wavelength in SOI slot optical waveguide with our proposed composition, which is attributed to the single average harmonic oscillator property of the chalcogenides. In T-slot waveguide structure, it was found that shift in Fermi energy and Mobility values can bring a change in birefringence, even with constant waveguide geometry and operating wavelength. <P> Conclusion: Absorption resonance wavelength in GeSbSe slot optical waveguide has been exploited for proposing the refractive index dispersion sensor. Our design approach regarding T-slot waveguide may lead to provision of automated polarization management sources for the light on chip circuits

Sample-in-waveguide geometry for TXRF sensitivity improvement

A very simple procedure based on a planar waveguide technique is suggested in this study to improve the sensitivity of the TXRF method.