Samuli SIITONEN^*, Juha PIETARINEN, Pasi LAAKKONEN, Konstantins JEFIMOVS^†, Markku KUITTINEN, Teemu ALAJOKI¹, Kari MÖNKKÖNEN², Esko J. PÄÄKKÖNEN³, and Ari TERVONEN⁴

Department of Physics and Mathematics, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland
¹VTT Electronics, P.O. Box 1100, FI-90571 Oulu, Finland
²North Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Karjalankatu 3, FI-80200 Joensuu, Finland
³Perlos Corporation, P.O. Box 100, FI-33471 Ylöjärvi, Finland
⁴Nokia Research Center, P.O. Box 100, FI-33721 Tampere, Finland

(Received March 23, 2007; Accepted May 25, 2007)

Planar light guide plate with one in-coupling and N out-coupling surface relief gratings is designed to perform as optical backplane broadcasting system for board-to-board connections. The performance of the element is analyzed theoretically with rigorous electromagnetic theory and results are confirmed experimentally. In addition, optical backplane elements have been replicated using conventional injection molding and UV-replication techniques.

Key words: microstructure fabrication, polymers, diffractive grating, optical interconnect

^*E-mail address: samuli.siitonen@joensuu.fi
^†Present address: Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.