Grating-assisted coupling of light between semiconductor and glass waveguides

Floquet-Bloch theory is used to calculate the electromagnetic fields in a leaky-mode grating-assisted directional coupler (LM-GADC) fabricated with semiconductor and glass materials. One waveguide is made from semiconductor materials (refractive index /spl ap/3.2) while the second is made from glass (refractive index /spl ap/1.45). The coupling of light between the two waveguides is assisted by a grating fabricated at the interface of the glass and semiconductor materials. Unlike typical GADC structures where power is exchanged between two waveguides using bound modes, this semiconductor/glass combination couples power between two waveguides using a bound mode (confined to the semiconductor) and a leaky mode (associated with the glass). The characteristics of the LM-GADC are discussed. Such LM-GADC couplers are expected to have numerous applications in areas such as laser-fiber coupling, photonic integrated circuits, and on-chip optical clock distribution. Analyses indicate that simple LM-GADC's can couple over 40% of the optical power from one waveguide to another in distances less than 1.25 mm.