IAA - Effect Photonics Ltd

The goal of this project is to establish a low cost alternative to packaging the type of optoelectronic device used in optical fibre communications networks in water-tight metal enclosures. The proposed method involves depositing a coating of a material called parylene directly over the device. The coating technology is being established by the company partner, Effect Photonics. The role of the University of Bath research team is to characterise the electrical and optical properties of the coatings, and their reliability as a moisture-tight coating.

Testing the electrical properties has involved devising a test structure that enables the measurement of the frequency dependence of their complex permittivity. The complex permittivity of a material is usually sensitive to moisture ingress, so should provide a means for assessing the suitability of parylene as a moisture-proof coating and simultaneously provide information about the impact of such coating on the response of the coated devices to the type of high frequency electrical signals encountered in optical communications networks.