Patent ID: 7496267

Claim:
A method for forming an integrated optic chip including a plurality of waveguiding channels having a longitudinal axis extending from an input to an output end, said method comprising the steps of: a. forming a photosensitive sol-gel film including an organometallic photosensitizer on a substrate, the organometallic photosensitizer comprising a metal constituent and a photolabile moiety constituent; b. exposing said sol-gel film through a gray scale mask having a different region of opacity corresponding to each of said channels to light, wherein different amounts of light energy pass through each region of opacity in said gray scale mask, and wherein the light is of a wavelength and is delivered for a time sufficient to photolyze different concentrations of photosensitizer within a plurality of exposed regions of said sol-gel film corresponding to said channels and thereby unbind a different concentration of photolabile constituents from metal constituents within each of said channels; c. heating said sol-gel film at a first temperature and for a time sufficient to drive off unphotolyzed photosensitizer and bind said different concentrations of said metal constituents to said sol-gel film in said channels permanently; and d. heating said sol-gel film at a second relatively higher temperature for unbinding the organic constituents of said sol-gel film and for driving off the organic constituent.