Planar-integrated polymer-optical sensor foils

The vision of our research is to provide sensor technology on a large-scale, just 100 µm thick, flexible polymer foil manufactured on an industrial scale. Sensors indicate changes in parameters such as temperature and strain in properties of light. Applications range from aviation and structural health monitoring to molecular analytics in the life sciences. The list of possible sensors that are currently investigated contains temperature detection with fiber-Bragg gratings, strain detection with chromatic and intensity based sensors, as well as molecular detection with whispering-gallery-mode resonators, Mach-Zehnder interferometers, and tailored polymer arrayed waveguide gratings. Optical waveguides represent a key component of planar optronic systems. The flexographic printing process generates optically conductive, multimodal structures with a minimum lateral width of 20 m and parabolic cross sections. In addition, the production of waveguides via hot embossing, laser direct writing and polymerization techniques such as MPP and 2PP are also research fields within the Collaborative Research Center “Transregio 123 – Planar Optronic Systems” (PlanOS).