Compact multimode interference coupler with tapered waveguide geometry

In this paper, a novel MMI coupler, based on general interference, with tapered waveguide geometry has been proposed for reduction of coupling length. The coupling characteristics and power imbalance of the proposed structure are compared with conventional MMI structures by using a mathematical model based on sinusoidal modes. It is seen that the beat length for tapered MMI coupler with angle of taper ∼1.05° is reduced by ∼24% of that of conventional MMI coupler and the coupling characteristics obtained with the mathematical model, match well with those obtained by more sophisticated BPM computer aided design software. The power imbalance for tapered 3 dB MMI coupler is more sensitive to the wavelength than that for conventional 3 dB MMI coupler and variation of power imbalance with fabrication tolerance for both the MMI coupler is almost same.     

High efficiency fiber coupling to silicon sandwiched slot waveguides

The design of a fiber coupler for high efficiency light coupling to silicon sandwiched slot waveguides is reported. The proposed fiber coupler is based on the inverted taper approach. Parameters have been optimized to maximize coupling efficiency for λ = 1550 nm and TM polarization. Maximum coupling efficiencies of 93% for a inverted taper length of 150 μm and a inverted taper tip width of 40 nm have been obtained by means of the overlap integral and 3D beam propagation method (BPM) simulations.     

Focusing subwavelength grating coupler for mid-infrared suspended membrane waveguide

A mid-infrared (mid-IR)-focusing subwavelength grating (SWG) coupler and suspended membrane waveguide (SMW) on a silicon-on-insulator wafer are studied. For a transverse-electric mode uniform SWG, finite-difference time-domain simulation predicts 44.2% coupling efficiency with 1 dB bandwidth of about 220 nm and backreflection of 0.78% at 2.75 μm. Then the uniform SWG is curved to a focusing SWG using a phase-matching formula. The SMWs are analyzed by the finite element method and fabricated. An Er3+-Pr3+ co-doped mid-IR fiber laser is used for device characterization. The fabricated mid-IR SWG coupler has 24.7% coupling efficiency.     

Thermally tunable EDFA gain equalizer using point symmetric cascaded Mach-Zehnder coupler

In this paper, a thermally tunable EDFA gain equalizer filter based on point symmetric cascaded Mach-Zehnder (CMZ) filter based two mode interference (TMI) coupler is presented with its mathematical model. Transmission characteristics of these CMZ couplers are analyzed and compared with Y symmetric CMZ couplers by using this model. For EDFA gain equalizer, point symmetric CMZ circuit is chosen due to its higher wavelength flattening width than Y symmetric CMZ circuit. The ripples of equalized EDFA gain spectrum are formulated and estimated from the equalized gain spectrum of point symmetric CMZ filters. It is found that 2 stage point symmetric CMZ coupler with binomial coupler distribution (2PB CMZ) using Δn = 5% provides gain equalized width of 35 nm with ripple of 0.4-0.6 dB and bending loss of 0.24 dB and device length is ∼15 times lower than that of the existing EDFA gain equalizer based CMZ filter. It is also seen that if during the fabrication process, waveguide core width w is increased or decreased by 0.1 μm (in percentage ∼±6.6%), the power imbalance of TMI based 2PB CMZ filter is slightly increased by ∼8% in comparison to that based on directional coupler (DC) by 40%. Low power thermooptic structure of varying gap between two waveguide cores with silicon trench just below the heater is used and it requires ∼1.5 times less heating power than the conventional structure for thermal tuning of EDFA gain equalization.     

UV-written long-period waveguide grating coupler for broadband add/drop multiplexing

We demonstrate a UV-written polymer long-period waveguide grating (LPWG) coupler, which offers a bandwidth of ∼20 nm, a maximum coupling efficiency of ∼80% and ∼60% for the TE and TM polarizations, respectively, and a wavelength-tuning range over the (S + C + L)-band (∼140 nm) with a temperature control of ∼25 °C. The LPWG coupler has the potential to be developed into a practical broadband add/drop multiplexer for coarse wavelength-division-multiplexing applications.     

A photonic wire-based directional coupler based on SOI

A photonic wire-based directional coupler based on SOI was fabricated by e-beam lithography (EBL) and the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching method. The size of the sub-micron waveguide is 0.34 μm × 0.34 μm, and the length in the coupling region and the separation between the two parallel waveguides are 410 and 0.8 μm, respectively. The measurement results are in good agreement with the results simulated by 3D finite-difference time-domain method. The transmission power from two output ports changed reciprocally with about 23 nm wavelength spacing between the coupled and direct ports. The extinction ratio of the device was between 5 and 10 dB, and the insertion loss of the device in the wavelength range 1520-1610 nm was between 22 and 24 dB, which included an about 18.4 ± 0.4 dB coupling loss between the taper fibers and the polished sides of the device.     

Er-Yb co-doped glass waveguide amplifiers using ion exchange and field-assisted annealing

Er³⁺-Yb³⁺ co-doped waveguide amplifiers fabricated using thermal two-step ion-exchange are demonstrated. K⁺-Na⁺ ion-exchange process was first carried out in pure KNO₃ molten bath, and then field-assisted annealing (FAA) was used to make the buried waveguides. The effective buried depth is estimated to be ∼3.4 μm for the buried FAA waveguides. With the use of cut-back method, the fiber-to-guide coupling loss of ∼4.38 dB, the waveguide loss of ∼2.27 dB/cm, and Er³⁺ absorption loss ∼5.7 dB were measured for a ∼1.24-cm-long waveguide. Peak relative gain of ∼7.0 dB is obtained for a ∼1.24-cm-long waveguide. The potential for the fabrication of compact optical amplifiers operating in the range of 1520-1580 nm is also demonstrated.     

A very short vertical directional coupler with polarization-insensitive high extinction ratios

We propose a very short vertical directional coupler with polarization-insensitive high extinction ratios. The structure of the coupler has two deep-ridge waveguide structures in the upper and lower parts which can be implemented using a double-sided wafer process. The coupling length and extinction ratios of the vertical directional coupler with symmetric structures decrease as the thicknesses of the inner cladding layer and core layer decrease. The extinction ratio is improved using a slight asymmetry in the refractive indices of two core layers. As the thicknesses of the inner cladding layer and core layer decrease, the length of the vertical directional coupler for extinction ratios greater than 30 dB of both TE and TM modes decreases. A vertical directional coupler with a very short length less than 100 μm and polarization-insensitive high extinction ratios greater than 30 dB can be implemented using the structure proposed in this paper.     

Experimental investigation on submicron rib waveguide microring/racetrack resonators in silicon-on-insulator

In experiment, characteristics of silicon microring/racetrack resonators in submicron rib waveguides have been systematically investigated. It is demonstrated that only a transverse-electric mode is guided for a ratio of slab height to rib height h/H = 0.5. Thus, these microring/racetrack resonators can only function for quasi-transverse-electric mode, while they get rid of transverse-magnetic polarization. Electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching were employed and improved to reduce sidewall roughness for low propagation loss and high performance resonators. Then, the effects of waveguide dimensions, coupling region design, waveguide roughness, and oxide cladding for the resonators have been considered and analyzed.     

Short-length and broadband mismatched optical couplers with tapered Hamming function for C- and L-band

Mismatched optical couplers with variable widths of waveguide tapered by Hamming function are numerically investigated in the demand of short-length, broadband, and low crosstalk. We used global search algorithm and beam propagation method to seek optimal structure parameters of coupling waveguide. The coupler length is 3.6 mm within the C+L-band (1.53-1.61 μm) for variable widths of waveguide at crosstalk level of −35 dB. Comparison with constant width of waveguide, the constant width of waveguide has a coupler length of 4.4 mm and can only achieve −20 dB of crosstalk within the C-band (1.53-1.565 μm). Obviously, the waveguide with variable widths has the advantage over constant width for the demand of short-length, bandwidth, and low-crosstalk.     

Propagation and Attenuation Characteristics of Waveguide Containing Uniaxial Anisotropic Moving Warm Plasma

The propagation, attenuation, cutoff characteristics, and power flow in a rectangular waveguide filled with a relativistically moving collisionless warm plasma for TE (transverse-electric) and TM (transverse-magnetic) modes are investigated in the presence of strong longitudinal magnetic field. The consideration of the attenuation (neglected by previous workers) leads to change in all the propagation characteristics of the waveguide.     

Long range surface plasmon polariton waveguides at 1.31 and 1.55 μm wavelengths

We investigate characteristics of gold metal strip waveguides based on long range surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) along thin metal strips embedded in a polymer for practical applications at the telecommunication wavelengths of 1.31 and 1.55 μm. Guiding properties of the gold strip waveguides are theoretically and experimentally evaluated with the limited thickness and width up to ∼20 nm and ∼10 μm, respectively. The lowest propagation loss of ∼1.4 dB/cm is obtained with a 14.5-nm-thick and 2-μm-wide gold strip at 1.55 μm. With a single-mode fiber, the lowest coupling loss of ∼0.4 dB/facet is achieved with a 14.5-nm-thick and 5-μm-wide gold strip at 1.55 μm. The lowest insertion losses are obtained 8-9 dB with 1.5 cm-long gold strips of a limited thickness and width at both the wavelengths. We demonstrate a 10 Gbps optical signal transmission via the LRSPP waveguide with a 14 nm-thick, 2.5 μm-wide, and 4 cm-long gold strip. These LRSPP waveguides have potential applications for optical interconnects and communications.     

High efficiency,small size,and large bandwidth vertical interlayer waveguide coupler

Since the advent of three-dimensional photonic integrated circuits,the realization of efficient and compact optical interconnection between layers has become an important development direction.A vertical interlayer coupler between two silicon layers is presented in this paper.The coupling principle of the directional coupler is analyzed,and the traditional method of using a pair of vertically overlapping inverse taper structures is improved.For the coupling of two rectangular waveguide layers,a pair of nonlinear tapers with offset along the transmission direction is demonstrated.For the coupling of two ridge waveguide layers,a nonlinear taper in each layer is used to achieve high coupling efficiency.The simulation results show that the coupling efficiency of the two structures can reach more than 90%in a wavelength range from 1500 nm to 1650 nm.Moreover,the crosstalk is reduced to less than-50 d B by using multimode waveguides at intersections.The vertical interlayer coupler with a nonlinear taper is expected to realize the miniaturization and dense integration of photonic integrated chips.     

Sm-doped polymer optical waveguide amplifiers

Trivalent samarium ion (Sm³⁺) doped SU8 polymer materials were synthesized and characterized. Intense red emission at 645 nm was observed under UV laser light excitation. Spectroscopic investigations show that the doped materials are suitable for realizing planar optical waveguide amplifiers. About 100 μm wide multimode Sm³⁺-doped SU8 channel waveguides were fabricated using a simple UV exposure process. At 250 mW, 351 nm UV pump power, a signal enhancement of ∼7.4 dB at 645 nm was obtained for a 15 mm long channel waveguide.     

Optical surface modes of photonic crystals for dual-polarization waveguide

In this study, the design of a polarization-independent (dual-polarization) waveguide is presented by utilizing surface modes of photonic crystals. The waveguide structure operates in a frequency interval that is commonly shared by both transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarizations. The numerical calculations based on plane wave expansion and finite-difference time-domain methods are carried out to design and demonstrate a surface mode waveguide that provides confinement and guiding for both TE and TM modes. Once the relevant modes are properly excited, the high transmission efficiency of the photonic crystal surface waveguide is ensured. The demand to have polarization-insensitive devices makes our proposed design an important component for the photonic integrated circuit applications. Finally, we also propose a broadband surface mode photonic crystal waveguide with a bandwidth value of 28% for only TE polarization.     

Design of short length and C+L-band mismatched optical coupler with waveguide weighted by the Blackman function

A mismatched optical coupler with waveguide weighted by the Blackman function is numerically investigated in the demand of short length, C+L-band, and low crosstalk. Utilizing the full factorial design, the structure parameters of coupling waveguide are obtained by beam propagation method. In the condition of crosstalk of −35 dB, the mismatched optical coupler with proper selected waveguide structure parameters is found to have a coupling length of 3.60 mm in the transmission wavelength ranges of C+L-band (1.53-1.61 μm). Obviously, the selection and design of waveguide structure are very important to satisfy the qualities of a mismatched optical coupler for the demand of short length, broad bandwidth, and low crosstalk.     

Design of a compact polarization beam splitter based on a deformed photonic crystal directional coupler

In this paper a compact polarization beam splitter based on a deformed photonic crystal directional coupler is designed and simulated. The transverse-electric （TE） guided mode and transverse-magnetic （TM） guided mode are split due to different guiding mechanisms. The effect of the shape deformation of the air holes on the coupler is studied. It discovered that the coupling strength of the coupled waveguldes is strongly enhanced by introducing elliptical airholes, which reduce the device length to less than 18.Sttm. A finite-difference tlme-domain simulation is performed to evaluate the performance of the device, and the extinction ratios for both TE and TM polarized light are higher than 20 dB.     

Compact and efficient coupler to interface hybrid dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide with silicon photonic slab waveguide

A coupler is proposed to interface a hybrid dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide (HDLPW) with a silicon photonic slab waveguide. The HDLPW is firstly designed and optimized to attain the best tradeoff between the mode confinement and the propagation distance. The designed coupler is inspired from the taper configuration and numerically modeled through finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The results demonstrate that a high confinement and low loss of the energy is achieved from a silicon photonic slab waveguide into the dielectric slot of area 50×200 nm² in the HDLPW. The transmission attained through the coupler with a compact size of 400 nm is found to be as high as 80% (1 dB). Further, the planar nature of taper configuration makes the coupler easy to fabricate using the state-of-the-art CMOS facilities. The proposed coupler is useful in enabling the integration between photonic and hybrid plasmonic waveguides and thus realizing on-chip hybrid integrated circuits.     

Semi-elliptical dielectric-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguides

Semi-elliptical dielectric-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguide (DLSPPW) is proposed. The mode effective index, field confinement, and propagation length of the fundamental mode supported by it are calculated at the telecom wavelength λ = 1.55 μm for different dimensions of a polymer ridge (with the refractive index of 1.535) placed on a gold film surface. The waveguide structure is found to exhibit 23% increase of the propagation length while showing similar confinement as compared to conventional rectangular DLSPPW when ridge thickness t < 450 nm (ridge width w = 600 nm) and ridge width w < 320 nm (ridge thickness t = 600 nm).     

Compact SOI arrayed waveguide grating demultiplexer with broad spectral response

A compact eight-channel flat spectral response arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) materials has been fabricated on the planar lightwave circuit (PLC). The 1-dB bandwidth of 48 GHz and 3-dB bandwidth of 69 GHz are obtained for the 100 GHz channel spacing. Not only non-adjacent crosstalk but also adjacent crosstalk are less than −25 dB. The on-chip propagation loss range is from 3.5 to 3.9 dB, and the total device size is 1.5 × 1.0 cm².