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US 11,681,103 B2Granted
Etch variation tolerant directional couplers
AssigneeHewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
InventorsPeng Sun, Mir Ashkan Seyedi, Thomas Van Vaerenbergh, Marco Fiorentino
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide etch-variation tolerant optical coupling components and processes for making the same. An etch-variation tolerant geometry is determined for at least one waveguide of an optical coupling component (e.g., a directional coupler). The geometry is optimized such that each fabricated instance of an optical component design with the etch-variation tolerant geometry has substantially the same coupling ratio at any etch depth between a shallow etch depth and a deep etch depth.
Claims18
A method comprising:
- estimating a range of etch depths in a coupling region of a directional coupler, the directional coupler comprising a first waveguide having a first waveguide coupling portion coupled to a second waveguide having a second waveguide coupling portion via the coupling region;
- determining, based on the estimated range of etch depths, an etch-variation tolerant geometry of the second coupling portion of the second waveguide by:
- determining a first figure of merit (FOM) associated with a first shape of the second waveguide coupling portion for each of one or more guided modes, the first FOM indicating a first net coupling ratio associated with the first shape over the range of etch depths for each of the one or more guided modes of the directional coupler,
- determining a second shape of the second waveguide coupling portion by changing the first shape of the second waveguide coupling portion,
- determining a second FOM associated with the second shape of the second waveguide coupling portion for each of the one or more guided modes, the second FOM indicating a second net coupling ratio associated with the second shape over the range of etch depths for each of the one or more guided modes of the directional coupler, and
- determining an etch-variation tolerant geometry based on a comparison of the first FOM with the second FOM;
- and
- fabricating the directional coupler comprising the second waveguide coupling portion comprising the etch-variation tolerant geometry.
5 more elements
A directional coupler comprising:
- a first waveguide, disposed on a substrate, comprising a first waveguide coupling portion;
- a second waveguide, disposed on the substrate, comprising a second waveguide coupling portion;
- and
- a coupling region comprising an etch gap disposed between the first waveguide coupling portion and the second waveguide coupling portion,
- wherein the second waveguide coupling portion includes an etch-variation tolerant waveguide geometry comprising a plurality of non-uniform widths of the second waveguide coupling portion across a length of the etch-variation tolerant waveguide geometry, the plurality of non-uniform widths configured to tolerate a range of etch gap depths in the coupling region, and wherein the plurality of non-uniform widths comprises are configured to maintain an equivalent coupling ratio at a first etch gap depth and a second etch gap depth by shifting a guided mode of light within the second waveguide coupling portion.
2 more elements
An etch-variation tolerant directional coupler comprising:
- a ring waveguide, disposed on a substrate, comprising a ring coupling portion;
- a bus waveguide, disposed on the substrate, comprising a bus coupling portion;
- and
- a coupling region comprising an etch gap disposed between the ring coupling portion and the bus coupling portion,
- wherein the bus coupling portion includes an etch-variation tolerant waveguide geometry comprising a plurality of non-uniform widths of the bus coupling portion across a length of the etch-variation tolerant waveguide geometry, the plurality of non-uniform widths configured to tolerate a range of etch gap depths in the coupling region, and wherein the plurality of non-uniform widths are configured to maintain an equivalent coupling ratio at a first etch gap depth and a second etch gap depth.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.