Fabrication of Silicon-Blazed Gratings for Couplers

To our knowledge, no blazed grating has been fabricated in silicon (Si) at a pitch of less than half a micron. In this article, we report the fabrication of Si-blazed gratings at the period of 400 nm, using electron beam lithography and ion beam etching techniques. The blazed grating is extremely useful as a grating coupler in integrated optics, operating at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.3 mum, because very high output efficiency of the grating coupler is expected. This will allow coupling to thin film devices in silicon, previously not regarded as promising because coupling to them was very inefficient.     

Fiber grating couplers for silicon nanophotonic circuits: Design modeling methodology and fabrication tolerances

Silicon nanophotonic circuits can exhibit a very high level of functional integration due to the very small cross sections of the silicon waveguides. However, to be implemented in data transmission networks, such circuits still must be interfaced with optical fibers having much larger dimensions. Due to this mismatch in size, a coupling structure is required in order to minimize the coupling loss. Diffraction grating coupler structures are one of the best candidates to perform this mode size conversion with good performances. However, they are also very sensitive to fabrication tolerances that may require an adaptation of the coupling conditions. In this paper, we present an iterative numerical method to optimize the design of a grating coupler by analyzing the out coupled beam from the waveguide towards the fiber. Using this method we show in details the sensitivity of the grating couplers to the principal fabrication variabilities in order to maximize the robustness of the design. A grating with 53% fiber to waveguide coupling efficiency is designed. Considering the dispersion of the modern CMOS fabrication processing, it appears that the optimal fiber coupling ratio remains rather constant but the optimal coupling angle at a given wavelength may vary by as much as ±10°.     

Polarization beam splitter using a binary blazed grating coupler

A novel polarization beam splitter using a two-layer grating coupler is proposed and demonstrated. It can directly couple the normally incident light from fiber into two separate waveguides according to their polarization states while splitting them. It realizes high coupling efficiency and a good extinction ratio by using binary blazed grating couplers. The coupling length is less than 14 microm. The extinction ratio is better than 20 dB for both polarizations over a 40 nm wavelength range, and the coupling efficiencies for the two layers are 58% and 50%.     

闪耀光栅的二元近似结构

摘要利用闪耀光栅的特点可制作高效的波导耦合器。采用时域有限差分法(FDTD)方法，模拟计算了二元闪耀光栅的一阶衍射效率和衍射角随光栅不同结构参数而变化的相关特征，所得结果对实际二元闪耀光栅的制备有重要参考价值。     

Design for broadband high-efficiency grating couplers

In this Letter, we propose general optimization methods to design broadband high-efficiency grating couplers for planar waveguides. We attribute the coupling bandwidth to the mismatch of effective indices between the diffracted beam and the actual grating structure around the operation wavelength for fiber to waveguide excitation. The coupling bandwidth formula is deduced. A simple parameter-separate optimization procedure is proposed for general layered grating couplers for high coupling efficiency. Using our principle, we optimized a grating coupler for a horizontal slot waveguide operating at wavelength 1.55 μm for TM polarization. The grating coupler has 1 dB bandwidth of 60 nm and coupling efficiency of 65% with incident light from single-mode optical fiber (SMF) at 8°.     

A Novel Design of Grating Couplers for Efficient Broadband Coupling between Silicon-on-Insulator Nanophotonic Waveguides and Fibres

A novel design of out-of-plane grating couplers is proposed for coupling between silicon-on-insulator nanophotonic waveguides and single-mode fibres. The coupler with the first-order diffraction coupling to the optical fibre is actually a second-order reflected grating with two times of period of the first-order grating. To enhance outcoupled power, a back hole is designed to form in the silicon substrate and a kind of metals is placed on the top acting as a reflection layer. The coupler is optimized using coupled-mode-based simulations, showing that the coupling efficiency to and from tapered optical fibre can be as high as 85% with 1dB bandwidth about 23 nm.     

High efficiency silicon nitride grating coupler

In this paper, we have designed, fabricated and characterized silicon nitride grating couplers with high efficiency at 1490 nm. The devices are fabricated using deep UV photolithography with resolution requirement of ～500 nm. The grating coupler fabricated yields a peak coupling efficiency of ?5.1 dB. The 1-dB bandwidth of the grating coupler is 60 nm.     

偏晶向(111)硅片闪耀光栅的制作

硅光栅的制作可以利用湿法腐蚀体硅工艺.湿法腐蚀利用硅的各向异性,由硅的晶面形成光栅工作凹槽,利用湿法工艺可以制作在不同光谱波段内工作的闪耀光栅.设计了一种利用偏晶向(111)硅片制作闪耀光栅的方法,使用这种方法可以批量制作闪耀角度较小的光栅.利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)进行了光栅表面形貌测试,试验结果表明,制作的硅光栅样片具有良好光学特性的反射表面和光栅槽形.硅闪耀光栅可以被用来制作微型光谱仪、滤光器等微型仪器或器件.     

Volume grating preferential-order focusing waveguide coupler

A volume grating focusing waveguide coupler has been designed, fabricated, and tested. The volume grating is designed to couple a 633-nm wave guided in a single-mode polyimide waveguide preferentially into the air cover. The beam is outcoupled normally to the surface of the waveguide and focused to a line 25 mm above the waveguide. The slanted-fringe volume grating is holographically recorded by the interference of two coherent 364-nm ultraviolet waves focused with a cylindrical lens to produce the chirped grating. The 1-mm-long volume grating coupler exhibits a preferential-coupling ratio of 0.98, a coupling efficiency of 95%, and an almost diffraction-limited focal line with a full width at half-maximum of 10.49mum.     

自由空间微闪耀光栅解复用器

波分复用/解复用器件在光纤通信中具有重要的应用。设计了一种自由空间的微闪耀光栅解复用器,通过对其衍射光场的复振幅分布的研究,得到了满足1级闪耀输出的光栅方程,实现了复合波长信号光在空间上的解复用。通过对微闪耀光栅解复用器的衍射效率和串扰进行分析后表明,微闪耀光栅解复用器具有很高的衍射效率,信号间串扰非常小,而且元件尺寸小,结构紧凑,集成度高,在光通信和光信息处理中具有一定的应用价值。     

基于达曼光栅的动态光耦合器

提出了一种基于达曼光栅的动态光耦合器,通过控制装置中达曼光栅位移参量,可实现入射光束的分束或合束以及两者之间的动态转换。适当选择达曼光栅类型可实现任意N×M的动态光耦合。实验中以1550 nm光波长为例,对1×8达曼动态光耦合器进行测量,测得其实现光开关功能时插入损耗为0.43 dB,实现光分束功能时均匀性达到0.03,单路插入损耗均值为10.5 dB。该实验装置易于调节、体积小、能耗低,且关键元件达曼光栅制作工艺成熟,易于批量化生产。特别是在实现中大规模光交换阵列时,该方案就具有更明显的优越性,有实用意义。     

Bi-wavelength two dimensional chirped grating couplers for low cost WDM PON transceivers

We propose and demonstrate a bi-wavelength two dimensional (2D) waveguide grating coupler on silicon-on-insulator which has efficient coupling of optical light with two-wavelength bands independently between standard optical single mode fibers and nanophotonic waveguides. The details of design are described and the measurement results as well as system performance are experimentally characterized. The bi-wavelength grating coupler can be used as wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) splitter/combiner for monolithically silicon integrated transceivers, potentially meeting the low cost requirements for future WDM passive optical network (PON).     

分析布拉格光栅破坏的两纤芯不同的光纤耦合器

进一步推广了描述纤芯不同光纤耦合器的耦合模理论，用于解释被布拉格光栅破坏的两纤芯不同光纤耦合器的耦合现象，理论分析的结果与已报道的实验结果相符，与单独的布拉格光栅所起的反射作用不同,这里布拉格光栅所起的作用主要是引入了强烈的色散，在光栅的频谱范围内使耦合器不再同步，在被布拉格光栅破坏的光纤耦合器的选择性频谱中，其边缘部分出现非常弱的波动，而在其阻带内出现非常强的凹陷。     

Beam splitting, combining, and cross coupling through multiple superimposed volume-index gratings

We investigate the diffraction properties of multiple-superimposed index gratings from a vector synthetic viewpoint using coupled wave analysis with Bragg and non-Bragg readout. The vector synthetic gratings consist of two volume-index gratings with different grating wave vectors, which can be obtained in photorefractive materials, in optical fibers or in Bragg cells with two driving acoustic waves. This structure can realize beam splitting, beam combining, and beam cross coupling, etc. Analytic expressions for the diffraction efficiency as well as the amplitude of the waves involved are obtained. The results are presented and discussed.     

Hologram recording and read-out with the evanescent field of guided waves

We investigate hologram recording and read-out where the evanescent field of a guided mode propagating in a planar waveguide is used as reference and illuminating wave, respectively. A special case of such a hologram is a new type of grating coupler promising beam to mode coupling with high coupling efficiency. First experiments with dichromated gelatin as the recording medium are reported as feasibility proof.     

基于LiNbO_3的长周期波导光栅可调谐耦合器的设计

设计了一种基于LiNbO_3的长周期波导光栅可调谐耦合器.该耦合器利用长周期光栅的独有特性将输入波导的导模经包层模耦合至输出波导导模.由于LiNbO_3的电光效应,波导光栅芯层与包层的有效折射率随外加电压变化,从而耦合器的谐振波长及耦合效率可由外加电压调谐.分析了光栅周期与耦合器的长度对耦合器带宽和耦合效率调谐范围的影响,以及波导尺寸对谐振波长调谐灵敏度的影响.结果表明光栅周期越短,耦合器长度越长,则耦合器的带宽越窄,耦合效率调谐范围也越大.此外,谐振波长调谐灵敏度随波导宽度的增加而减小,而波导厚度对谐振波长调谐灵敏度的影响可以忽略.对光栅周期为94μm、长度为3.52cm的耦合器进行仿真,结果表明,谐振波长灵敏度为26.2pm/V,3dB带宽可达4.5nm,当外加电压从0变化到200V时,谐振波长变化5.24nm,耦合效率可在1到0.15之间进行调谐.     

一种硅基SiO_2波导耦合器的设计与分析

波导耦合器是组成光纤传感系统和光纤通信系统光收发组件及模块的重要元器件,是实现光收发模块一体化光电集成的基础。给出了一种用光纤陀螺系统的X型四端口波导耦合器的工作原理,采用有效折射率法和BPM(Beam propagation method)法建立了耦合器的数学模型,计算并分析了耦合器尺寸在尽可能小的情况下和在满足单模传输的条件下耦合器的耦合系数、有效耦合长度、分光比以及回波损耗等参数之间的关系,并对其关键技术进行了系统的研究。仿真结果表明,所设计的波导耦合器在低损耗情况下分光比可达到50%∶50%,耦合器全长为33.5mm,输入输出波导间距为410μm,芯层截面积为6μm×6μm。     

方向耦合器结构参量的新型设计方法

本文应用束传播与重叠积分方法,考虑输入波导区、耦合区和输出波导区整体结构,提出了方向耦合器结构参量的新型设计方法.与耦合模及局部模等方法相比,该方法具有计算简便,结果精确等优点.     

Apodized grating coupler using fully-etched nanostructures

A two-dimensional apodized grating coupler for interfacing between single-mode fiber and photonic circuit is demonstrated in order to bridge the mode gap between the grating coupler and optical fiber. The grating grooves of the grating couplers are realized by columns of fully etched nanostructures, which are utilized to digitally tailor the effective refractive index of each groove in order to obtain the Gaussian-like output diffractive mode and then enhance the coupling efficiency.Compared with that of the uniform grating coupler, the coupling efficiency of the apodized grating coupler is increased by 4.3% and 5.7%, respectively, for the nanoholes and nanorectangles as refractive index tunes layer.     

共振域矩形介质光栅的逆向设计

采用模态法研究了共振域光栅分束器及闪耀光栅等光学器件的设计原理及逆向设计方法,给出了-1级非偏振闪耀光栅的典型设计示例。研究表明,自准直角入射时,光束在光栅内传输将激发产生离散模,通过调节离散模透过光栅传输时的累积相位差,可对衍射光进行调控,实现偏振(非偏振)分束、偏振(非偏振)闪耀等功能。采用严格耦合波法对基于模态法逆向设计的-1级非偏振石英闪耀光栅的几何参数进行验证,计算结果显示两者非常吻合,证明了该方法的正确性。