Non conventional technologies for integrated optics

Resumen

Although integrated optics (IO) were initially oriented to telecommunication applications, nowadays it plays an important role in several major research fields, such as the micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS) or the development of lab-on-a-chip (LoC) platforms, Hence, it is possible to find in the literature a large variety of IO components and systems for a myriad of applications, for example optical biosensors, optical accelerometers, mobile micromirrors, optical cantilevers, tuneable microlenses, photonic crystals, optofluidic structures, system for DNA fragment analysis, etc. Nevertheless, the technological complexity of such devices has prevented their mass implantation. This thesis represents a summary of the work performed at the Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (IMB-CNM-CSIC) by the author during its PhD. His work was focused in the application of non-conventional microfabrication technologies to develop simple and low-cost IO components. Three different technologies were selected (DRIE, photopatternable polymers and soft lithography) to develop a full-field optical biosensor, an optical accelerometer, a variable optical attenuator (VOA), an optomechanical sensor and a 3D-modulable microoptical system. The simulations and experimental characterization performed shows the high technological flexibility achieved in the use of non conventional technologies for IO.