Submicron Etched Beam Splitters Based on Total Internal Reflection in GaAs–AlGaAs Waveguides

Author

Kim, Byungchae ; Dagli, Nadir

Author_Institution

Electr. & Comput. Eng. Dept., Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Volume

28

Issue

13

fYear

2010

fDate

7/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1938

Lastpage

1943

Abstract

Submicron etched beam splitters are designed, fabricated and characterized in Al_0.9Ga_0.1As-GaAs waveguides. Beam splitter transmission and reflection characteristics show clear dependence on gap dimension and angle of incidence. It is possible to obtain 8 to 30% power transmission by adjusting the gap dimension and angle of incidence. The experimental results agree well with three-dimensional (3-D) finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations. The effect of imperfections, mainly the slope of etched sidewalls and variations in etch depth are investigated using 3-D FDTD. Design guidelines for low loss etched beam splitters are also given.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; etching; finite difference time-domain analysis; gallium arsenide; integrated optics; light reflection; light transmission; optical beam splitters; optical fabrication; optical waveguides; 3D finite difference time domain; FDTD; GaAs-AlGaAs; beam splitter reflection; beam splitter transmission; gap dimension; optical waveguides; submicron etched beam splitter; total internal reflection; Couplers; Etching; Finite difference methods; Gallium arsenide; Mirrors; Optical losses; Optical reflection; Optical scattering; Optical waveguides; Time domain analysis; Beam splitter; integrated optics; total internal reflection; weakly confined waveguide;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2010.2050462

Filename

5467162