US 11,960,116 B2Granted

Optical waveguide coupler

AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

InventorsChih-Tsung Shih, Chewn-Pu Jou, Felix Ying-Kit Tsui, Stefan Rusu

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A structure includes a first waveguide and a second waveguide. The first waveguide includes a first strip portion and a first tapered tip portion connected to the first strip portion. The second waveguide includes a second strip portion and a second tapered tip portion connected to the second strip portion, wherein the first tapered tip portion of the first waveguide is optically coupled to the second tapered tip portion of the second waveguide, and the first waveguide and the second waveguide are configured to guide a light. In a region where the light is coupled between the first tapered tip portion and the second tapered tip portion, an effective refractive index of the first waveguide with respect to the light is substantially equal to an effective refractive index of the second waveguide with respect to the light.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A structure, comprising:

a semiconductor substrate;
a device layer disposed over the semiconductor substrate;
an interconnect structure disposed on the device layer, the device layer comprising an optical waveguide coupler, and the optical waveguide coupler comprising:
a first waveguide, comprising a first strip portion and a first tapered tip portion connected to the first strip portion;
and
a second waveguide, comprising a second strip portion and a second tapered tip portion connected to the second strip portion, wherein the first tapered tip portion of the first waveguide is optically coupled to the second tapered tip portion of the second waveguide, and the first waveguide and the second waveguide are configured to guide a light, and
wherein the first tapered tip portion is adjacent to the second tapered tip portion, a refractive index of the first tapered tip portion is greater than a refractive index of the second tapered tip portion, and the width of the second end of the first tapered tip portion is smaller than the width of the second end of the second tapered tip portion.

4 more elements

A structure, comprising:

a first waveguide, comprising a first strip portion and a first tapered tip portion connected to the first strip portion, wherein the first tapered tip portion has a first end connected to the first strip portion and a second end opposite to the first end of the first tapered tip portion, and a width of the first end of the first tapered tip portion is greater than a width of the second end of the first tapered tip portion;
and a second waveguide, comprising a second strip portion and a second tapered tip portion connected to the second strip portion, wherein the second tapered tip portion has a first end connected to the second strip portion and a second end opposite to the first end of the second tapered tip portion, and a width of the first end of the second tapered tip portion is greater than a width of the second end of the second tapered tip portion, and the first tapered tip portion is adjacent to the second tapered tip portion, and wherein a refractive index of the first waveguide is greater than a refractive index of the second waveguide, and the width of the second end of the first tapered tip portion is smaller than the width of the second end of the second tapered tip portion;
and
a center axis of the first strip portion of the first waveguide is offset from a center axis of the second strip portion of the second waveguide;
wherein the first tapered tip portion has a first sidewall and a second sidewall opposite to the first sidewall, the first sidewall of the first tapered tip portion is parallel to the center axis of the first strip portion, and the second sidewall of the first tapered tip portion is inclined with respect to the center axis of the first strip portion.

2 more elements

A photoelectric integrated circuit (IC) die, comprising:

a semiconductor substrate;
a first dielectric layer disposed on the semiconductor substrate;
a device layer disposed on the dielectric layer, the device layer comprising;
a first waveguide, disposed over the first dielectric layer and comprising a first strip portion and a first tapered tip portion, wherein the first strip portion is connected between the optical device and the first tapered tip portion;
and
a second waveguide, disposed over the first dielectric layer and comprising a second strip portion and a second tapered tip portion connected to the second strip portion, wherein the second tapered tip portion of the second waveguide is optically coupled to the first tapered tip portion of the first waveguide, the second tapered tip portion of the second waveguide is separated from the first tapered tip portion of the first waveguide by a distance, and a center axis of the first strip portion of the first waveguide is offset from a center axis of the second strip portion of the second waveguide, and
a second dielectric layer disposed on the first dielectric layer to cover the first waveguide and the second waveguide, wherein sidewalls of the first dielectric layer and sidewalls of the second dielectric layer are substantially aligned with sidewalls of the semiconductor substrate;
wherein the first tapered tip portion has a first sidewall and a second sidewall opposite to the first sidewall, the first sidewall of the first tapered tip portion is parallel to the center axis of the first strip portion, and the second sidewall of the first tapered tip portion is inclined with respect to the center axis of the first strip portion.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.