Beam steering in waveguide arrays by thermal control

Beam steering in optical waveguide arrays (OWA) was demonstrated using thermal control. The OWA was fabricated in an inorganic-organic polymer using ultraviolet lithography on a glass wafer. A transverse temperature gradient was established by heating and cooling the opposite sides. Results from numerical simulation of the propagating beam for different thermal detunings indicated that for used arrays a signal routing to 6 signal channels was possible.