Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a broadband, polarization-diverse compact bending design for low-index-contrast waveguides, where light is re-directed via total internal reflection (TIR) on an air-trench quadratic (elliptical or parabolic) reflector surface. Compared to prior work based on...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128032 |
| _version_ | 1826190548742963200 |
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| author | Yu, Shaoliang Qiu, Xiaokang Zuo, Haijie Turduev, M Gu, Tian Hu, Juejun |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Yu, Shaoliang Qiu, Xiaokang Zuo, Haijie Turduev, M Gu, Tian Hu, Juejun |
| author_sort | Yu, Shaoliang |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We propose and experimentally demonstrate a broadband, polarization-diverse compact bending design for low-index-contrast waveguides, where light is re-directed via total internal reflection (TIR) on an air-trench quadratic (elliptical or parabolic) reflector surface. Compared to prior work based on flat TIR mirrors, the quadratic reflector design contributes to minimized mode leakage and reduced optical losses, enabling high-density, scalable photonic architectures at the chip and board levels. Moreover, we develop a self-aligned fabrication process where the reflector and the waveguide segments are defined in a single lithography step, thereby circumventing the alignment sensitivity issue common to traditional air trench structures. Our simulations predict bending losses down to <0.14 dB per 90° and 180° bend at 850 nm wavelength, and we experimentally measure broadband losses of ∼0.3 dB per 90° and 180° bend for both TE and TM polarizations in structures fabricated using standard UV lithography. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:41:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/128032 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:41:56Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1280322022-09-30T10:36:43Z Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors Yu, Shaoliang Qiu, Xiaokang Zuo, Haijie Turduev, M Gu, Tian Hu, Juejun Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Materials Research Laboratory We propose and experimentally demonstrate a broadband, polarization-diverse compact bending design for low-index-contrast waveguides, where light is re-directed via total internal reflection (TIR) on an air-trench quadratic (elliptical or parabolic) reflector surface. Compared to prior work based on flat TIR mirrors, the quadratic reflector design contributes to minimized mode leakage and reduced optical losses, enabling high-density, scalable photonic architectures at the chip and board levels. Moreover, we develop a self-aligned fabrication process where the reflector and the waveguide segments are defined in a single lithography step, thereby circumventing the alignment sensitivity issue common to traditional air trench structures. Our simulations predict bending losses down to <0.14 dB per 90° and 180° bend at 850 nm wavelength, and we experimentally measure broadband losses of ∼0.3 dB per 90° and 180° bend for both TE and TM polarizations in structures fabricated using standard UV lithography. 2020-10-16T21:19:36Z 2020-10-16T21:19:36Z 2020-04 2020-10-06T14:39:35Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0733-8724 1558-2213 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128032 Yu, Shaoliang et al. "Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors." Journal of Lightwave Technology 38, 16 (August 2020): 4368 - 4373 © 2020 IEEE en http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2020.2986576 Journal of Lightwave Technology Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Prof. Hu via Ye Li |
| spellingShingle | Yu, Shaoliang Qiu, Xiaokang Zuo, Haijie Turduev, M Gu, Tian Hu, Juejun Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors |
| title | Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors |
| title_full | Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors |
| title_fullStr | Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors |
| title_short | Compact and Fabrication-Tolerant Waveguide Bends Based on Quadratic Reflectors |
| title_sort | compact and fabrication tolerant waveguide bends based on quadratic reflectors |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128032 |
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