Optical circuit fabrication method and device
OwnerRichard Jenkins, Mark McNifinventors
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Abstract
A photonic light circuit device is described that comprises a semiconductor substrate and two or more optical components wherein one or more hollow core optical waveguides are formed in the semiconductor substrate to optically link said two or more optical components. The PLC may comprise a lid portion and a base portion. The PLC can be adapted to receive optical components or optical components may be formed monolithically therein. Coating with a reflective layer is also described.
Claims42
A photonic light circuit device comprising a semiconductor substrate and a plurality of optical components, wherein one or more hollow core optical waveguides are formed in the plane of the semiconductor substrate to optically link said plurality of optical components, characterised in that each of the plurality of optical components is retained in an alignment slot formed in the semiconductor substrate, each alignment slot being arranged to define the alignment of the optical component retained therein with respect to the one or more hollow core optical waveguides, the alignment slot being separate from the hollow core optic waveguides.
A device as claimed in 18 in which the rectangular hollow core optical waveguide has a first cross-sectional dimension parallel to a first waveguide wall and a second cross-sectional dimension orthogonal to said first cross-sectional dimension wherein the first cross-section dimension is at least 10% greater than the second cross sectional dimension.
A method of fabricating a photonic light circuit device comprising the stops of micro-fabricating one or more hollow channels and a plurality of alignment slots in a semiconductor substrate wherein the one or more hollow channels act, in use, as hollow core optical waveguides and each of the plurality of alignment slots is separate from the hollow channels and arranged to passively align an optical component retained therein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.