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JANUARY 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 85 Figure 5: Seven processes for defining polymer optical waveguides. • Photodefinable epoxy from MicroChem-NanoSU-8-50 • Photodefinable acrylate film from Hitachi Chemical • Photodefinable acrylate monomer on Mylar from OpticalinterLinks called GuideLink TM Two waveguide materials seem to predom- inate: PDMS and acrylates. [8] The fabrication processes can be summarized in Figure 5. EOCB (Electrical Optical Circuit Boards) This work is part of the German projects Electrical/Optical Circuit Board and Opto- Sys, which are supported by the German gov- ernment's Department of Education and Re- search (BMBF) under grants 16SV802/6 and 01BP801/01. (Dortmund, Ulm and the Fraunha- fer Institute for Applied Solid-State-Physics in Freiburg are participating on a suborder basis.) The progress in Germany is typical of that in the UK and USA, moving from the labora- tory at universities to industrial companies building prototypes and the infrastructure. The EOCB (electrical optical circuit board) typi- fied by C-Lab of Siemens in the last update is now replaced by commercial firms like Vari- oOptics AG of Villingen, Switzerland (spin-off of Varioprint AG of Heiden, Switzerland), and tested/qualified by Microtec GmbH laborato- ries [Pusch-2006]. Microtec tested and report- ed on the EOCB performance along with fail- ure mechanisms and failure predictions. This provided new information for standards and prequalification actions. Figure 6 shows this concept which provides the required compatibility concerning the de- sign and manufacturing processes. It also en-