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Published on: July 18, 2015
Compact beam splitters with deep gratings for miniature photonic integrated circuits: design and implementation
Chin-Hui Chen1, Jonathan Klamkin, Steven C Nicholes
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. janet@ece.ucsb.edu
Applied Optics
|September 3, 2009
Summary
We developed an ultracompact grating-based beam splitter for dense photonic integrated circuits. This 10 micrometer device offers equal splitting, low loss, and high extinction ratio, proving competitive for integrated optics.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Optical Engineering
- Integrated Optics
- Nanophotonics
Background:
- Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) demand miniaturization for advanced applications.
- Existing beam splitters often face limitations in size, loss, or extinction ratio for dense integration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate an ultracompact grating-based beam splitter for PICs with strict density requirements.
- To analyze its performance in terms of splitting ratio, insertion loss, and extinction ratio.
- To explore design strategies for mode distortion avoidance and detector optimization.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication and characterization of a 10 micrometer long grating-based beam splitter.
- Integration and testing within a coherent balanced receiver circuit.
- Analysis of detector width optimization for improved receiver performance.
Main Results:
- Achieved equal optical power splitting with low insertion loss.
- Demonstrated a high extinction ratio in the integrated coherent balanced receiver.
- Identified design strategies to prevent mode distortion and optimize detector widths.
Conclusions:
- The grating-based beam splitter is a viable and competitive technology for ultracompact PICs.
- It offers low fabrication complexity, making it suitable for mass production.
- The device performance is suitable for integrated coherent balanced receivers.
