Pluggable Single-Mode Fiber-Array-to-PIC Coupling Using Micro-Lenses

Scarcella, Carmelo; Gradkowski, Kamil; Carroll, Lee; Lee, Junsu; Duperron, Matthieu; Fowler, Daivid; O’Brien, Peter

doi:10.1109/lpt.2017.2757082

Cited by 40 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Since the lenses are monolithically integrated on the chip back-side, the fabrication concept is also compatible with wafer-scale fabrication, reducing the cost. This coupling concept was demonstrated for first time in the NIR (1330 nm) using polymer microlenses [26][27] and afterwards using Si microlenses in the C-band [28] and here it is applied for expanded beam coupling in the targeted 6.5 µm-7.5 µm wavelength range.…”

Section: Chip-based Evanescent Wave Sensing Platformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This 130 µm beam diameter was chosen to obtain a sufficiently large Rayleigh range for free space optics systems. The use of microlenses not only serves as a focusing and collimating element but implements an expanded beam interface, which drastically increases the lateral alignment tolerance between the chip and the readout unit [25][26][27][28]. The grating was designed to ensure sufficient coupling efficiency over the full targeted wavelength range (6.5-7.5 µm, TE polarization) under close to normal incidence to facilitate the interfacing with the readout unit.…”

Section: Integrated Circuit Platform and Sensor Chip Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mid-IR sensing platform for trace analysis in aqueous solutions based on a germanium-on-silicon waveguide chip with a mesoporous silica coating for analyte enrichment

Beneitez¹,

Baumgartner²,

Missinne³

et al. 2020

Opt. Express

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A novel platform based on evanescent wave sensing in the 6.5 to 7.5 µm wavelength range is presented with the example of toluene detection in an aqueous solution. The overall sensing platform consists of a germanium-on-silicon waveguide with a functionalized mesoporous silica cladding and integrated microlenses for alignment-tolerant backside optical interfacing with a tunable laser spectrometer. Hydrophobic functionalization of the mesoporous cladding allows enrichment of apolar analyte molecules and prevents strong interaction of water with the evanescent wave. The sensing performance was evaluated for aqueous toluene standards resulting in a limit of detection of 7 ppm. Recorded adsorption/desorption profiles followed Freundlich adsorption isotherms with rapid equilibration and resulting sensor response times of a few seconds. This indicates that continuous monitoring of contaminants in water is possible. A significant increase in LOD can be expected by likely improvements to the spectrometer noise floor which, expressed as a relative standard deviation of 100% lines, is currently in the range of 10 −2 A.U.

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Section: Chip-based Evanescent Wave Sensing Platformmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Integrated Circuit Platform and Sensor Chip Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mid-IR sensing platform for trace analysis in aqueous solutions based on a germanium-on-silicon waveguide chip with a mesoporous silica coating for analyte enrichment

Beneitez¹,

Baumgartner²,

Missinne³

et al. 2020

Opt. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although a monolithic solution for integrating the microlenses is the ultimate goal, 10 we discuss here an intermediate step of hybrid-integrating a photonics chip with polymer microlens fabricated on a separate dual-side polished Si substrate. 11 Although the concept of an expanded beam collimation itself can be realized from the topside of the chip as has been described comprehensively already, 12 yet a through-substrate coupling allows for an alternative approach of doing face-up integration of the photonics chip and helps provide easy access to the device-side for advanced packaging technologies. In addition, it provides the designer with various degrees of freedom to choose between chip substrate thickness, starting mode-field diameter of the designed grating to allow a desired expansion and phase transformation of the beam propagation through the bulk silicon substrate.…”

Section: Integration Of Silicon Photonics With Backside Microlensesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Through-substrate coupling elements for silicon-photonics-based short-reach optical interconnects

Mangal

Missinne

Campenhout

et al. 2019

Optical Interconnects XIX

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Laser integration and photonics chip packaging are the two key challenges that require attention to drive down the cost/bit metric for silicon photonics based optical interconnects. We try to address the latter by demonstrating optical interfaces that fit well in an overall scheme of 2.5D/3D electro-optic integration needed for a high performance computing environment. A through-substrate coupling interface provides the benefit of bonding a silicon photonic chip face-up on a package substrate such that the device-side of the chip remains accessible for die-stacking and fiber-array packaging, thereby offering a promising alternative to flip-chip based packaging. In this paper, we demonstrate three through-substrate coupling elements to enable alignment tolerant and energy-efficient integration of silicon photonics with board-level or package-level optical interconnects : (i) a downward directionality O-band grating coupler with a peak-2.3 dB fiber-to-silicon waveguide coupling efficiency; (ii) polymer microlenses hybrid integrated onto the substrate of a silicon photonic chip to produce an expanded collimated beam at λ=1310 nm for a distance of more than 600 µm; (iii) a ball lens placed in a through-package via to result in a 14 µm chip-to-package 1-dB lateral alignment tolerance for coupling into a 20×24 µm squared cross-section board-level polymer waveguide.

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“…For fiber-coupled lasers, beam expansion/collimation is usually achieved by integrating hemispherical lenses at the tip of the fiber [9], [10] or with the use of a ball lens [11], [12]. On-chip beam expansion has been recently demonstrated using both edge couplers with 3D-printed optics [13] and grating couplers combined with mounted microlens array blocks [14], ball-lens [15] or polymer microlens [16]. In order to truly leverage the expanded beam concept, a more scalable approach is required in which the optics can be incorporated monolithically at a wafer-scale using passive alignment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanded-Beam Backside Coupling Interface for Alignment-Tolerant Packaging of Silicon Photonics

Mangal

Snyder

Campenhout

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron.

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We demonstrate an alignment-tolerant backside coupling interface in the O-band for silicon photonics by generating an optimized through-substrate (downward) directionality beam from a TE-mode grating coupler and hybrid integrating the chip with backside silicon microlenses to achieve expanded beam collimation. The key advantage of using such an expanded beam interface is an increased coupling tolerance to lateral and longitudinal misalignment. A 34 µm beam diameter was achieved over a combined substrate thickness of 630 µm which was then coupled to a thermally expanded core single-mode fiber to investigate the tolerances. A 1-dB fiber-to-microlens lateral alignment tolerance of 14 µm and an angular alignment tolerance of 1 • was measured at a wavelength of 1310 nm. In addition, a large ±2.5 µm 1-dB backside alignment accuracy was measured for the placement of microlens with respect to the grating. The radius of curvature of Si microlens to achieve a collimated beam was 480 µm, and a 1-dB longitudinal alignment tolerance of 700 µm was measured for coupling to a single-mode expanded core fiber. The relaxation in alignment tolerances make the demonstrated coupling interface suitable for chip-to-package or chip-to-board coupling.

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Pluggable Single-Mode Fiber-Array-to-PIC Coupling Using Micro-Lenses

Cited by 40 publications

References 10 publications

Mid-IR sensing platform for trace analysis in aqueous solutions based on a germanium-on-silicon waveguide chip with a mesoporous silica coating for analyte enrichment

Mid-IR sensing platform for trace analysis in aqueous solutions based on a germanium-on-silicon waveguide chip with a mesoporous silica coating for analyte enrichment

Through-substrate coupling elements for silicon-photonics-based short-reach optical interconnects

Expanded-Beam Backside Coupling Interface for Alignment-Tolerant Packaging of Silicon Photonics

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