Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Issues
Silicon photonics is an enabling technology that provides integrated photonic devices and systems with low-cost mass manufacturing capability. It has attracted increasing attention in both academia and industry in recent years, not only for its applications in communications, but also in sensing. On...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/11/7/666 |
| _version_ | 1827713451567349760 |
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| author | Lirong Cheng Simei Mao Zhi Li Yaqi Han H. Y. Fu |
| author_facet | Lirong Cheng Simei Mao Zhi Li Yaqi Han H. Y. Fu |
| author_sort | Lirong Cheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Silicon photonics is an enabling technology that provides integrated photonic devices and systems with low-cost mass manufacturing capability. It has attracted increasing attention in both academia and industry in recent years, not only for its applications in communications, but also in sensing. One important issue of silicon photonics that comes with its high integration density is an interface between its high-performance integrated waveguide devices and optical fibers or free-space optics. Surface grating coupler is a preferred candidate that provides flexibility for circuit design and reduces effort for both fabrication and alignment. In the past decades, considerable research efforts have been made on in-plane grating couplers to address their insufficiency in coupling efficiency, wavelength sensitivity and polarization sensitivity compared with out-of-plane edge-coupling. Apart from improved performances, new functionalities are also on the horizon for grating couplers. In this paper, we review the current research progresses made on grating couplers, starting from their fundamental theories and concepts. Then, we conclude various methods to improve their performance, including coupling efficiency, polarization and wavelength sensitivity. Finally, we discuss some emerging research topics on grating couplers, as well as practical issues such as testing, packaging and promising applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:36:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-003461ffa833420a8a2bdb4715a43b49 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:36:09Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-003461ffa833420a8a2bdb4715a43b492023-11-20T06:13:04ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2020-07-0111766610.3390/mi11070666Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical IssuesLirong Cheng0Simei Mao1Zhi Li2Yaqi Han3H. Y. Fu4Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518000, ChinaTsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518000, ChinaTsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518000, ChinaTsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518000, ChinaTsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518000, ChinaSilicon photonics is an enabling technology that provides integrated photonic devices and systems with low-cost mass manufacturing capability. It has attracted increasing attention in both academia and industry in recent years, not only for its applications in communications, but also in sensing. One important issue of silicon photonics that comes with its high integration density is an interface between its high-performance integrated waveguide devices and optical fibers or free-space optics. Surface grating coupler is a preferred candidate that provides flexibility for circuit design and reduces effort for both fabrication and alignment. In the past decades, considerable research efforts have been made on in-plane grating couplers to address their insufficiency in coupling efficiency, wavelength sensitivity and polarization sensitivity compared with out-of-plane edge-coupling. Apart from improved performances, new functionalities are also on the horizon for grating couplers. In this paper, we review the current research progresses made on grating couplers, starting from their fundamental theories and concepts. Then, we conclude various methods to improve their performance, including coupling efficiency, polarization and wavelength sensitivity. Finally, we discuss some emerging research topics on grating couplers, as well as practical issues such as testing, packaging and promising applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/11/7/666silicon photonicsgrating couplersintegrated waveguide devices |
| spellingShingle | Lirong Cheng Simei Mao Zhi Li Yaqi Han H. Y. Fu Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Issues Micromachines silicon photonics grating couplers integrated waveguide devices |
| title | Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Issues |
| title_full | Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Issues |
| title_fullStr | Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Issues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Issues |
| title_short | Grating Couplers on Silicon Photonics: Design Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Issues |
| title_sort | grating couplers on silicon photonics design principles emerging trends and practical issues |
| topic | silicon photonics grating couplers integrated waveguide devices |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/11/7/666 |
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