Low-cost planar star-coupling structure for large-core polymer optical fibers

A three-plate modular, polymer, and planar waveguiding star coupler for large-core polymer fibers is proposed and an 8 x 8 version is demonstrated. The proposed structure can be mass produced by use of injection-molding technology at a significantly low cost. Power measurements indicate that a performance of 1.9-dB power fluctuation among all receiving channels is possible at the expense of tolerating a 3.1-dB excess power loss. Trade-offs among device compactness, overall power efficiency, and channel fluctuation are discussed.