Fully etched apodized grating coupler on the SOI platform with -0.58 dB coupling efficiency.

We design and fabricate an ultrahigh coupling efficiency (CE) fully etched apodized grating coupler on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform using subwavelength photonic crystals and bonded aluminum mirror. Fabrication error sensitivity and coupling angle dependence are experimentally investigated. A record ultrahigh CE of -0.58 dB with a 3 dB bandwidth of 71 nm and low back reflection are demonstrated.

[1]  K. Gylfason,et al.  An apodized SOI waveguide-to-fiber surface grating coupler for single lithography silicon photonics. , 2011, Optics express.

[2]  Guo-Qiang Lo,et al.  A High-Efficiency Nonuniform Grating Coupler Realized With 248-nm Optical Lithography , 2013, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[3]  Lech Wosinski,et al.  Highly efficient nonuniform grating coupler for silicon-on-insulator nanophotonic circuits. , 2010, Optics letters.

[4]  Ray T. Chen,et al.  Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor compatible high efficiency subwavelength grating couplers for silicon integrated photonics , 2012 .

[5]  Alireza Samani,et al.  Focusing-curved subwavelength grating couplers for ultra-broadband silicon photonics optical interfaces. , 2014, Optics express.

[6]  T. Krauss,et al.  An out-of-plane grating coupler for efficient butt-coupling between compact planar waveguides and single-mode fibers , 2002 .

[7]  Yunhong Ding,et al.  Ultra-high-efficiency apodized grating coupler using a fully etched photonic crystal , 2013, 2013 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Pacific Rim (CLEOPR).

[8]  Minhao Pu,et al.  High-efficiency, large-bandwidth silicon-on-insulator grating coupler based on a fully-etched photonic crystal structure , 2010 .

[9]  Anthony J. Walton,et al.  Direct Al-Al contact using low temperature wafer bonding for integrating MEMS and CMOS devices , 2008 .

[10]  Chao Li,et al.  CMOS-compatible high efficiency double-etched apodized waveguide grating coupler. , 2013, Optics express.

[11]  Manfred Berroth,et al.  Bridging the gap between optical fibers and silicon photonic integrated circuits. , 2014, Optics express.

[12]  T. Krauss,et al.  Compact and Highly Efficient Grating Couplers Between Optical Fiber and Nanophotonic Waveguides , 2007, Journal of Lightwave Technology.

[13]  Siegfried Janz,et al.  Continuously apodized fiber-to-chip surface grating coupler with refractive index engineered subwavelength structure. , 2010, Optics letters.

[14]  H. Tsang,et al.  Apodized Waveguide Grating Couplers for Efficient Coupling to Optical Fibers , 2010, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[15]  J. Xu,et al.  Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuit Mode Multiplexer , 2013, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[16]  P. Verheyen,et al.  High-efficiency fiber-to-chip grating couplers realized using an advanced CMOS-compatible silicon-on-insulator platform. , 2010, Optics express.