Keywords

SWGC, planar waveguide, intermediate optics

Abstract

We propose a new stratified waveguide grating coupler (SWGC) to couple light from a fiber at normal incidence into a planar waveguide. SWGCs are designed to operate in the strong coupling regime without intermediate optics between the fiber and the waveguide. Two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation in conjunction with microgenetic algorithm optimization shows that about 72% coupling efficiency is possible for fiber (core size of 8.3 μm and ∆=0.36%) to slab waveguide (1.2- μm core and ∆=3.1%) coupling. We show that the phase-matching and Bragg conditions are simultaneously satisfied through the fundamental leaky mode.

Original Publication Citation

B. Wang, J. Jiang, D. M. Chambers, and G. P. Nordin, "Stratified waveguide grating coupler for normal fiber incidence," Opt. Lett., 3(8), pp. 845-847 (25)