We propose a compact multi-channel 90 optical deflection device for short-distance optical interconnection. The device consists of stacked bent multimode optical waveguides having reflecting mirrors with bending angles of 90. The structure of the bent multimode optical waveguide with a bending angle of 90 was designed by ray-tracing simulations. The simulated insertion loss for each channel of the device was 0.5 dB. We also propose a simple fabrication process using a pair of multi-channel linear optical waveguides with symmetrical 45 mirrors. An 8-channel 90 optical deflection device was fabricated using polymer materials and basic operation was confirmed. Our device has good potential for use as a high-density optical interconnection device.

We have studied the basic optical and physical characteristics of polymeric optical waveguide films with S-shaped waveguides and 45 mirrors applied as multimode optical interconnection components. The core and cladding of the waveguide films were made of deuterated-polymethylmethacrylate (d-PMMA) and UV-cured resin, respectively. We evaluated the insertion losses of the waveguides, the crosstalk and the 45-mirror losses in these waveguide films and demonstrated that they have low propagation loss. The shrinkage and thermal expansion of the polymeric optical waveguide films are also discussed because of the interest in improving module packaging.