Soft lithography replication of polymeric microring optical resonators.

We have developed a soft lithography method to replicate polymeric integrated optical devices. In this method, the master device and the molded replica are made of the same materials, allowing direct comparison. To evaluate the quality of the replication, microring optical resonators are chosen as test devices because of their sensitivity to small fabrication errors. The master devices are precisely fabricated using direct electron beam lithography. The replicas are produced by the molding technique and subsequent ultraviolet curing. Compared with the master devices, the molded devices show minimal change in both physical shape and optical performance. This correspondence indicates the merits of soft lithographic methods for fabrication of precision integrated optical devices.