Efficient photonic couplers for photonic waveguides and methods of forming the same

A photonic device, comprising:

• a plurality of dielectric waveguides each comprising a respective core portion formed in a cladding material;
• and
• a plurality of photonic couplers, each comprising:
• a dielectric pillar formed at a first surface of the cladding material and optically coupled to the core portion;
• and
• a dielectric cap attached to and optically coupled to the dielectric pillar.

A fiber array unit, comprising:

• a housing containing a plurality of dielectric waveguides, each dielectric waveguide comprising a core portion embedded in a cladding material;
• a plurality of photonic couplers, each photonic coupler comprising a dielectric pillar formed at a surface of the cladding material and optically coupled to the core portion and a dielectric cap attached to and optically coupled to the dielectric pillar;
• and
• a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber positioned to receive transmitted radiation from a respective one of the plurality of photonic couplers,
• wherein each dielectric cap is configured to focus radiation incident thereon from the respective core portion to a beam width that is smaller than a width of the respective core portion.