Silicon photonic WDM devices: simulation, design, and implementation

Folkert Horst; William M. J. Green; Bert Jan Offrein; Yurii A. Vlasov

doi:10.1117/12.839685

4 August 2009 Silicon photonic WDM devices: simulation, design, and implementation

Folkert Horst, William M. J. Green, Bert Jan Offrein, Yurii A. Vlasov

Proceedings Volume 7386, Photonics North 2009; 73862L (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839685
Event: Photonics North 2009, 2009, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

Passive wavelength division (de)multiplexer (WDM) devices are required as basic building blocks for WDM-based on-chip optical interconnects. In this application, many copies of the devices will be placed throughout a single die, requiring that the device occupy as small a footprint as possible. Furthermore, it is critical that the demultiplexing characteristics be very uniform from device to device, therefore the device must be tolerant to small fabrication variations. There are various wavelength demultiplexer designs that lend themselves to on-chip integration with CMOS integrated circuits and that could potentially reach the above specifications. In this presentation we will show the layout and simulation of demultiplexer designs based on cascaded Mach-Zehnder wavelength splitters and on Echelle gratings and compare these to measurement results of realized devices. The results on the Mach-Zehnder devices show that this type of device is relatively sensitive to process variations. A fit of a device model to the measured curves shows that the device variations result primarily from random phase errors in the optical delay lines, which are probably due to small width variations in the waveguides. This problem should be strongly reduced in devices based on Echelle gratings, because in this case the light does not propagate through channel waveguides in the part of the device that shapes the optical response. This assumption is confirmed by the measurement results, which show good demultiplexer response and excellent reproducibility between devices.

Citation Download Citation

Folkert Horst, William M. J. Green, Bert Jan Offrein, and Yurii A. Vlasov "Silicon photonic WDM devices: simulation, design, and implementation", Proc. SPIE 7386, Photonics North 2009, 73862L (4 August 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839685

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available