Optical coupler having exposed subwavelength gratings for coupling electromagnetic field
First Claim
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1. An optical coupler, comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
a first cladding layer arranged at least partly over the semiconductor substrate;
a second cladding layer arranged at least partly over the first cladding layer with respect to the semiconductor substrate;
a facet in the first cladding layer and in the second cladding layer, the facet extending substantially in a lateral direction; and
a plurality of waveguides arranged over the first cladding layer with respect to the semiconductor substrate,wherein the plurality of waveguides comprises;
a first exposed waveguide comprising a plurality of first spaced-apart segments arranged substantially along a longitudinal direction;
a second exposed waveguide; and
a first buried waveguide; and
wherein at least two of the waveguides of the plurality of waveguides;
are at least partly encapsulated in the second cladding layer;
have respective refractive indices higher than a refractive index of the second cladding layer; and
are spaced apart from each other along the lateral direction.
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Abstract
A semiconductor photonic device includes a substrate, facet(s), and optical coupler(s) associated with the facet(s). Each optical coupler can couple an electromagnetic field incident on the respective facet towards a buried waveguide as the electromagnetic field proceeds into the semiconductor photonic device. In some examples, each coupler has waveguides extending in a longitudinal direction and at least partly encapsulated within a cladding layer. In some examples, at least one waveguide tapers along its length. In some examples, at least one waveguide includes spaced-apart segments arranged to form a subwavelength grating (SWG) configured to entrain electromagnetic radiation.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An optical coupler, comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate; a first cladding layer arranged at least partly over the semiconductor substrate; a second cladding layer arranged at least partly over the first cladding layer with respect to the semiconductor substrate; a facet in the first cladding layer and in the second cladding layer, the facet extending substantially in a lateral direction; and a plurality of waveguides arranged over the first cladding layer with respect to the semiconductor substrate, wherein the plurality of waveguides comprises; a first exposed waveguide comprising a plurality of first spaced-apart segments arranged substantially along a longitudinal direction; a second exposed waveguide; and a first buried waveguide; and wherein at least two of the waveguides of the plurality of waveguides; are at least partly encapsulated in the second cladding layer; have respective refractive indices higher than a refractive index of the second cladding layer; and are spaced apart from each other along the lateral direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification