Horizontal coupling to silicon waveguides
AssigneeAcacia Communications, Inc.
InventorLong Chen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Techniques for forming a facet optical coupler that includes a waveguide formed over a trench of a silicon substrate are described. The trench is formed in a silicon substrate and then filled with a dielectric material. The waveguide is patterned on the dielectric material over the trench such that the waveguide is disposed a distance from the first surface. A first end of the waveguide has a first size and a second end of the waveguide distal the first end has a second size different than the first size. A material of the waveguide and the first size define a mode size of the waveguide.
Claims20
A method of forming a facet optical coupler comprising:
- forming a trench in a silicon substrate;
- forming a first waveguide on an oxide layer overlying the silicon substrate in a region separate from the trench, wherein the first waveguide and the trench are non-overlapping;
- filling the trench with a dielectric material;
- and
- patterning a second waveguide on the dielectric material overlying at least part of the trench and positioned to optically couple with the first waveguide.
An apparatus comprising:
- a silicon substrate having an edge and a trench formed at the edge;
- a first waveguide formed on an oxide layer overlying the silicon substrate in a region separate from the trench;
- a dielectric material filling the trench;
- and
- a second waveguide formed on the dielectric material overlying at least part of the trench and separated vertically from the first waveguide, the second waveguide being positioned to optically couple with the first waveguide, wherein a first end of the second waveguide and a side of the dielectric material form a facet of the apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.