APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AN OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE EDGE COUPLER FOR PHOTONIC INTEGRATED CHIPS

摘要

Embodiments are provided for photonic chip waveguides with improved coupling efficiency to optical fibers. In an embodiment, a photonic chip comprises a semiconductor substrate, a dielectric layer on the substrate, and a tapered silicon or semiconductor waveguide embedded in the dielectric layer. The dielectric layer has lower optical refractive index than the tapered waveguide and serves as a cladding for the tapered waveguide. The chip further includes, on the substrate, a dielectric waveguide adjacent to the dielectric layer. The tip of the tapered waveguide is embedded in the dielectric waveguide. The dielectric waveguide serves to couple the tapered waveguide to an optical fiber, enlarge and better confine the light propagation mode from the taper waveguide to the fiber.