Patent ID: 8906593

Claim:
A formulation for fabricating a plurality of self-propagating polymer optical waveguides, said formulation comprising: (a) at least one starting molecule containing one or more unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds; (b) a photoinitiator or combination of photoinitiators for initiating a free-radical polymerization of said at least one starting molecule, wherein said photoinitiator or combination of photoinitiators is present in a photoinitiator concentration from about 0.01 wt % to about 10 wt % based on said formulation; and (c) a free-radical inhibitor or combination of free-radical inhibitors for controlling said free-radical polymerization, wherein said free-radical inhibitor or combination of free-radical inhibitors is present in an inhibitor concentration of from about 0.005 wt % to about 5 wt % based on said formulation, wherein said formulation is essentially free of thiol groups; and wherein said photoinitiator concentration and said inhibitor concentration are selected to spatially control formulation heat release, associated with polymerization, outside said polymer optical waveguides.