Mode Converters for Coupling to High Aspect Ratio Silicon-on-Insulator Channel Waveguides

Author

Schmid, J.H. ; Lamontagne, B. ; Cheben, P. ; Delâge, A. ; Janz, S. ; Densmore, A. ; Lapointe, J. ; Post, E. ; Waldron, P. ; Xu, D.X.

Author_Institution

Inst. for Microstructural Sci., Nat. Res. Council, Ottawa, Ont.

Volume

19

Issue

11

fYear

2007

fDate

6/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

855

Lastpage

857

Abstract

The design, simulation, and experimental performance of mode converters for coupling from single-mode silicon-on-insulator ridge waveguides to high aspect ratio channel waveguides are described. The converters consist of a two-level adiabatic taper structure. The final channel waveguide is 1.5 mum high by 0.8 mum wide. Simulations predict that for total coupler lengths longer than 20 mum, the coupling loss from the fundamental ridge mode to the slit mode is better than -0.2 dB. The couplers and waveguides were fabricated using a two-step self-aligned process. The measured coupling loss for fabricated mode converters is -0.4 dB

Keywords

integrated optics; optical couplers; optical design techniques; optical fabrication; optical losses; optical waveguides; ridge waveguides; silicon-on-insulator; 0.8 mum; 1.5 mum; aspect ratio; coupling loss; mode converters; ridge waveguides; silicon-on-insulator channel waveguides; two-level adiabatic taper structure; Arrayed waveguide gratings; Integrated optics; Optical losses; Optical waveguide components; Optical waveguides; Photonics; Silicon on insulator technology; Slabs; Spectroscopy; Waveguide junctions; Mode converters; silicon photonics; waveguide components;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2007.897461

Filename

4200787