As silicon photonics transitions from research to commercial deployment,packaging solutions that efficiently couple light into highly compact and functional sub-micrometer silicon waveguides are imperative but remain ...As silicon photonics transitions from research to commercial deployment,packaging solutions that efficiently couple light into highly compact and functional sub-micrometer silicon waveguides are imperative but remain challenging.The 220 nm silicon-on-insulator(SOI)platform,poised to enable large-scale integration,is the most widely adopted by foundries,resulting in established fabrication processes and extensive photonic component libraries.The development of a highly efficient,scalable,and broadband coupling scheme for this platform is therefore of paramount importance.Leveraging two-photon polymerization(TPP)and a deterministic free-form micro-optics design methodology based on the Fermat’s principle,this work demonstrates an ultraefficient and broadband 3-D coupler interface between standard SMF-28 single-mode fibers and silicon waveguides on the 220 nm SOI platform.The coupler achieves a low coupling loss of 0.8 dB for the fundamental TE mode,along with 1 dB bandwidth exceeding 180 nm.The broadband operation enables diverse bandwidthdriven applications ranging from communications to spectroscopy.Furthermore,the 3-D free-form coupler also enables large tolerance to fiber misalignments and manufacturing variability,thereby relaxing packaging requirements toward cost reduction capitalizing on standard electronic packaging process flows.展开更多
基金National Science Foundation(ITE-2236093,NSF ITE Convergence Accelerator)Ministry of Education-Singapore(International Postdoctoral Fellowship)。
文摘As silicon photonics transitions from research to commercial deployment,packaging solutions that efficiently couple light into highly compact and functional sub-micrometer silicon waveguides are imperative but remain challenging.The 220 nm silicon-on-insulator(SOI)platform,poised to enable large-scale integration,is the most widely adopted by foundries,resulting in established fabrication processes and extensive photonic component libraries.The development of a highly efficient,scalable,and broadband coupling scheme for this platform is therefore of paramount importance.Leveraging two-photon polymerization(TPP)and a deterministic free-form micro-optics design methodology based on the Fermat’s principle,this work demonstrates an ultraefficient and broadband 3-D coupler interface between standard SMF-28 single-mode fibers and silicon waveguides on the 220 nm SOI platform.The coupler achieves a low coupling loss of 0.8 dB for the fundamental TE mode,along with 1 dB bandwidth exceeding 180 nm.The broadband operation enables diverse bandwidthdriven applications ranging from communications to spectroscopy.Furthermore,the 3-D free-form coupler also enables large tolerance to fiber misalignments and manufacturing variability,thereby relaxing packaging requirements toward cost reduction capitalizing on standard electronic packaging process flows.
