Systematic approach for tolerance analysis of photonic systems

Abstract

Passive alignment of photonic components is an assembly method compatible with a high production volume. Its precision performance relies completely on the dimensional accuracies of geometrical alignment features. A tolerance analysis plays a key role in designing and optimizing these passive alignment features. The objective of this paper is to develop a systematic approach for conducting such tolerance analysis, starting with a conceptual package design, setting up the tolerance chain, describing it mathematically and converting the misalignment to a coupling loss probability distribution expressed in dB. The method has successfully been applied to a case study where an indium phosphide (InP) chip is aligned with a TriPleX 1 (SiO 2 cladding with Si 3 N 4 core) interposer via a silicon optical bench (SiOB).