Fabrication of Triplexers Based on Flattop SOI AWG

A triplexer is fabricated based on SOI arrayed waveguide gratings （AWGs）. Three wavelengths of the triplexer operate at different diffraction orders of an arrayed waveguide grating. The signals of 1490nm and 1550nm, which are input from central input waveguide of an AWG, are demultiplexed and the signal of 131Onto, which is input from central output waveguide of an AWG, is uploaded. The tested results show that the downloaded and uploaded signals have fiat-top response. The insertion loss is 9 dB on chip, the nonadjacent crosstalk is less than -30 dB for 1490nm and 1301 nm, and is less than -25 dB for 1550nm, the 3dB bandwidth equates that of the input light source.     

Geometry Parameter Optimization of Large Cross-Sectional S-Shaped Bent Rib Waveguides for Silicon Based Optical Switches

By using a genetic algorithm, geometry parameters of large cross-sectional S-bend rib waveguides are optimized aiming at the least total loss when the propagation loss is considered. Optimized results axe presented as an example of S-bend rib waveguides based on silicon-on-insulator （SOI） 4 × 4 optical switches. The value of 2 dB/cm is given to the propagation loss according to the experimental results. The simulation results indicate that the total loss drops from 1.0002rib down to 0.4375dB without considering a lateral offset. If the offset is adopted, the total loss reduces from 0.5463dB to 0.2365dB. In addition, the effect of the rib height ratio on the loss is analysed, and the optimal ratio is obtained to be 0.55.     

Planar Er- and Yb-doped amplifiers and lasers

New results in erbium-doped planar waveguide amplifiers and lasers are presented. The waveguides are produced in silica-on-silicon technology using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Waveguide propagation losses outside the erbium absorption band are improved to values below 0.05 dB/cm for a core–cladding index step of around 1.4%. Amplifier arrays show a net gain of more than 12 dB over the entire C-band. Received: 13 June 2001 / Published online: 23 October 2001     

Bending Efficiency of Bent Multiple-Slot Waveguides

The bending efficiency of three-dimensional bent multiple-slot waveguides is studied by applying a combined method of effective-index and modified transfer-matrix methods. The effects of asymmetric structure, asymmetric slots, and asymmetric middle strips on the bending efficiency are investigated. We show that the bending efficiency can be improved by the use of asymmetric structures and asymmetric middle strips. The bending efficiency of different slot waveguides （up to quintuple-slot structure） is compared. It is revealed that although the single-slot waveguide in general provides the lowest bending loss for the same waveguide parameters, it is possible that the multiple-slot waveguide can present a lower bending loss than the single-slot one.     

Talbot Effect in Three Waveguide Arrays

By taking the coupling between the non-neighbourhood waveguides into account, the coupling characteristic of three waveguide arrays is analysed. The strong coupling equation of three waveguides is dealt with Laplace transform and LU decomposition. The general field evolution equation is obtained by inversion of the Laplace transform. The results show that the self-imaging conditions （Talbot effect） do not satisfy in general. The theoretical predictions are in good agreement with the BPM simulations.     

Vertically and laterally waveguide-coupled cylindrical microresonators in Si3N4 on SiO2 technology

High-finesse laterally and vertically waveguide-coupled cylindrical microresonators have been designed and realized in Si₃N₄ on SiO₂ technology using conventional optical lithography. Based on the experimental results and detailed simulations, a comparison between the lateral and vertical coupling schemes is made. Received: 16 May 2001 / Revised version: 13 August 2001 / Published online: 2 November 2001     

Resonant coupling into hybrid 3D micro-resonator devices on organic/biomolecular film/glass photonic structures

We have designed and realized an integrated photonic family of micro-resonators (MR) on multilayer SU8/lipidic film/glass materials. Such a family involves hybrid 3D-MR structures composed of spherical glass-MR arranged upon organic pair-SU8-waveguides, an efficient coupling being ensured with a Langmuir-Blodgett Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC-lipid from Avanti Polar^®) film whose thickness is ranging from 12 to 48 nm. We have characterized such add/drop filters, respectively, in intensity and spectral measurements, and experimentally achieved an evanescent resonant-photonic-coupling between the 3D-MR and the 4-ports structure through the DPPC-gap. Spectral resonances have been measured for 4-whispering gallery-modes (WGM) into such 3D-structures, respectively, characterized with a 0.97 nm free spectral range (FSR) and a high quality Q-factor up to 4.10⁴.     

Design, Fabrication, and Measurement of Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Slab Waveguides

Two-dimensional photonic crystal slab waveguides on SOI wafer are designed and fabricated. Photonic band gap, band gap guided mode, and index guided mode are observed by measuring the transmission spectra. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical ones.     

An Easily Operating Polymer 1×4 Optical Waveguide Switch Matrix Based on Vertical Couplers

A three-dimensional （3D） polymer thermo-optic （TO） 1 × 4 waveguide switch matrix based on vertical couplers is demonstrated. It consists of four basic 3D switch units and because of its 3D structure, its construction is compact, only 9 mm in length; moreover, the control logic of the entire switch is very simple, the light signal can be easily switched to any output port by operating only a single switch unit. The finished devices exhibit a switching extinction ratio greater than 21 dB for all of four output ports and the crosstalk between two adjacent output ports is lower than -19 dB. The rise time and the fall time of the switch matrix are 0.8ms and 1.4ms, respectively. The required electrical power to initiate the switching function for M1 switching units is about 50mW.     

Fabrication of combinatorial nm-planar electrode array for high throughput evaluation of organic semiconductors

We have fabricated a combinatorial nm-planar electrode array by using photolithography and chemical mechanical polishing processes for high throughput electrical evaluation of organic devices. Sub-nm precision was achieved with respect to the average level difference between each pair of electrodes and a dielectric layer. The insulating property between the electrodes is high enough to measure I-V characteristics of organic semiconductors. Bottom-contact field-effect-transistors (FETs) of pentacene were fabricated on this electrode array by use of molecular beam epitaxy. It was demonstrated that the array could be used as a pre-patterned device substrate for high throughput screening of the electrical properties of organic semiconductors.     

Effective index method for planar lightwave circuits containing directional couplers

A simple and intuitive effective index method for planar lightwave circuits containing directional couplers is proposed. The optimal cladding refractive index of the effective two-dimensional planar waveguide is found according to the coupling length of the directional coupler involved. Numerical examples indicate that this proposed effective index method gives accurate results while saving significant computation time in simulation and design of planar lightwave circuits containing directional couplers.     

Tunable discrete Talbot effect in inhomogeneous photonic lattices

We discuss the discrete Talbot effect in one- and two-dimensional waveguide lattices under the influence of an external potential. It is shown that the field recovery can be precisely tuned by changing the gradient of the potential. In a two-dimensional configuration, the diagonal coupling does not affect the period of recovery.     

Analytical and numerical study on grating depth effects in grating coupled waveguide sensors

The in-coupling process for grating-coupled planar optical waveguide sensors is investigated in the case of TE waves. A simple analytical model based on the Rayleigh–Fourier–Kiselev method is applied to take into account the depth of the grating coupler, which is usually neglected in the modeling. Analytical expressions are derived both for the position and width of the in-coupling peaks to illustrate the effects of grating depth on the guided mode resonances in grating coupled waveguide sensors. Numerical computations verify the model for shallow gratings both in terms of peak shape and position and provide the limitations for the analytical formulas.     

Improved optimal variational method to analyze optical rib waveguides

We present an improved optimal variational method (Vopt) to overcome the assumption of field separability in the two orthogonal directions. The improved Vopt method is shown to give accurate results with less computational effort. The method is applied to rib waveguides and the results are compared with those obtained using the computationally intensive finite-element method.     

Simple low-loss waveguide bends using ARROW effect

A new concept for reducing bend loss in dielectric planar waveguides is presented. It is based on the introduction of a set of antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides (ARROWs) on the outside of the bent core and defined in the same fabrication step as the main bend. It has been ascertained by simulation that the bending loss can be significantly reduced. The method is compatible with other bend-lossreduction strategies, as well as with different waveguiding structures, such as rib and buried waveguides and fibers.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Echelle diffraction grating demultiplexers with a single diffraction passband

Planar multiplexers based on echelle gratings are very popular devices for optical communication applications. However, the available channel number is restricted by the concept of free spectral range (FSR) due to their high operating diffraction order. Now, we can break the restriction of the FSR concept, and most of wavelengths in the operating passband of echelle grating multiplexers can be used based on a variable diffraction order design. We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of the echelle grating multiplexer with a single diffraction passband based on silica platform.     

Optimal design of multimode interference couplers using an improved self-imaging theory

Self-imaging theory is widely accepted as a good method in designing 1 × N multimode interference (MMI) couplers, but it is also true that self-imaging theory is not suitable for low-contrast structures. An improved self-imaging theory is proposed in this paper for the optimal design of low-contrast 1 × N MMI couplers. The average effective width of MMI waveguide and the average effective propagation constant of MMI waveguide are used as the basis to modify the conventional self-imaging theory. A direct calculation of the average effective width of low-contrast MMIs is presented. We use this approach in the optimal design of a 1 × 4 silica MMI coupler, and the results show that the improved self-imaging theory is more accurate than conventional self-imaging theory for low-contrast structures, the results also show that if the material parameters and the width of an MMI waveguide are fixed, the average effective width of the MMI waveguide will increase with the decrease of the height of the core layer.     

Multichannel silicon WDM ring filters fabricated with DUV lithography

We have fabricated 9-channel silicon wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) ring filters using 193 nm deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lithography and investigated the spectral properties of the ring filters by comparing the transmission spectra with and without an upper cladding. The average channel-spacing of the 9-channel WDM ring filter with a polymeric upper cladding is measured about 1.86 nm with the standard deviation of the channel-spacing about 0.34 nm. The channel crosstalk is about −30 dB, and the minimal drop loss is about 2 dB.     

Vector modes of rectangular-core dielectric waveguides: An improved perturbation approach

We present an improved analysis to obtain vector modes of a rectangular-core waveguide (RCW) structure whose dielectric constant profile is separable in x and y coordinates. Using this analysis, a perturbation method is then developed to obtain vector modes of a practical RCW. The propagation constants so obtained for a fully-buried and a ridge RCW structure using the present analysis are found to be in better agreement with reported numerical values than the ones obtained with an earlier reported perturbation approach [Kumar et al., Opt. Lett. 8 (1983) 63].