RIA: Reconfigurable Optical Interconnects with Guided Substrate Mode Holographic Optical Elements

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Reconfigurable optical interconnects have numerous applications for parallel processing, photonic switching, and hybrid electronic/optical computational systems. The principle objective of this program is to evaluate the possibility of realizing this type of interconnect network with an element which uses a substrate mode hologram and layers of a material with reversible, photoinduced anisotropic properties. The substrate mode hologram redirects a totally internally reflected beam within the substrate, and the recently reported photo-reversible birefringent material consists of organic azo-dye in a polymer matrix. This research effort will concentrate on: 1) modeling and fabricating substrate mode holograms, 2) developing preparation techniques for the photo-reversible anisotropic material, 3) forming and evaluating the induced anisotropic effects and polarization holograms formed in this material, and 4) evaluating interconnect structures which combine substrate mode holograms and layers of the photo- reversible anisotropic material. This effort will result in improved understanding of the characteristics of substrate mode holograms and azo-dye:polymer recording materials. It will also provide a basis for examining a number of reconfigurable optical interconnect systems.