Lensed-taper launching coupler for small-bore, infrared hollow fibers

A new type of launching coupler for small-bore, hollow fibers, consisting of a lens and a tapered hollow waveguide, is proposed to increase the alignment tolerance between an input laser beam and small bore fibers. First, we designed the structural dimensions of the coupler by using a ray-tracing method. Then, a series of experiments employing tapered hollow waveguides made of Pyrex glass was performed to investigate the effectiveness of the new coupler. It is shown that the coupler has a high efficiency with attenuation of around 0.5 dB, especially when the inside of the taper section is coated with a polymer and silver film. In addition, we also show that the coupler has great tolerance for the transverse displacement of a waveguide axis, which gives a 0.1-dB loss increase for a 300-mum displacement.     

Spectral Properties of the TE 0 and TM 0 Modes in Dielectric Thin Film Waveguides,Excited with a Prism Light Coupler

The coupling of light into single-mode thin film waveguides has been investigated in the visible part of the spectrum. The synchronous angles and the line shapes of the resonant coupling process were determined from measurements of the scattered light from the guided wave. The index of refraction of the guide is obtained with an accuracy of 0·13 per cent. A dispersion formula is given for thin films of thorium fluoride. It is shown, that the prismfilm coupler can be designed to operate in a virtually non-dispersive mode in a band centred around a prescribed wavelength. The light scattering is found to be chiefly caused by inhomogenities and other volume defects in the film.     

Direct integration of nanoscale conventional and slot waveguides

Slot waveguides can provide high optical confinement in a nanoscale low-index layer. While a conventional waveguide has a Gaussian-like Eigenmode profile, the Eigenmode profile of a slot waveguide is quite non-Gaussian type, due to the large discontinuity of refractive indices and thus the transverse electric field component between the high and low index layers of a slot waveguide. Although the field profiles of the two types of waveguides seem different, here we show that direct integration of conventional and slot waveguides yields efficient coupling of light into and out of slot waveguides using the rigorous finite-difference time domain method. The proposed direct coupling method has comparable performance to recently proposed taper based coupling methods, while having advantages in easier integration with conventional waveguide optics and higher integration density. We also show that coupling efficiency is not sensitive to the symmetricity of the slot waveguide, resulting in good manufacturing tolerance. The proposed direct coupler may have a number of applications in lightwave interconnects, sensing and data storage.     

Highly efficient coupling in lithium niobate photonic wires by the use of a segmented waveguide coupler

The purpose of this article is to show that efficient light coupling in lithium niobate waveguides presenting a strongly confined mode, such as photonic wires, is possible with the use of a periodically segmented waveguide coupler. The coupler consists in an input periodically segmented waveguide whose mode size is adapted to the mode of a standard single-mode fiber coupled to a photonic wire whose mode size is of the same order of the wavelength. The periodic segmentation of the input waveguide allows fulfilling the phase matching condition necessary to achieve an efficient light transfer between these waveguides. The coupling efficiency is typically 5 times higher than the butt-coupled configuration.     

Compact double-grating coupler between vertically stacked silicon-on-insulator waveguides

We analyze a compact double-grating coupler that provides coupling through radiation modes between two vertically stacked silicon-on-insulator waveguides. The grating is sufficiently strong to be considered a one-dimensional photonic bandgap structure that facilitates a short coupling length. Simulations suggest that a 29% coupling efficiency is achievable in coupling light from one waveguide to another with 12.9 microm long binary gratings. We found that the coupling efficiency is enhanced by Fabry-Perot resonance between two gratings. The coupling efficiency can be increased by use of a blazed grating. We use the eigenmode expansion method to design and optimize the binary grating coupler, and the results are verified by use of the finite-difference time-domain method.     

Fabrication of polymer waveguides between two optical fibers using spatially controlled light-induced polymerization

A new method for the fabrication of polymer waveguides between two optical fibers using a spatially controlled photopolymerization is reported. By taking advantage of the self-guiding effect of light through a photopolymerizable medium, polymer waveguides perfectly aligned with the fiber cores and strongly anchored to their surfaces are fabricated. The process is characterized by following in situ the coupling efficiency of a nonactinic laser source. Examples of waveguides exhibiting good coupling efficiency and high flexibility are given. By selecting the suitable monomers and adjusting the photonic parameters, the optical and mechanical waveguide properties (diameter, length, refractive index, rigidity, and flexibility) can be controlled in view of optical sensor applications.     

Vertical antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide coupler for three-dimensional optical interconnects: optimum design for large tolerance, high coupling efficiency, and short coupling length

A compact antiresonant-reflecting-optical-waveguide-(ARROW-) type vertical coupler for three-dimensional optical interconnects was demonstrated. The coupler consists of stacked ARROW's channeled by the stripe lateral confinement structure, and each waveguide is completely separated by a thin metal film in the separation region. In the coupling region the intermediate cladding of a previous coupler was made of the same material as that of the first cladding or the core. However, we had to overcome the problem that both the high coupling efficiency and the large fabrication tolerance cannot be achieved simultaneously. Thus we incorporated an intermediate cladding made of a material different from that of the core and the first cladding. The refractive index and the thickness of the intermediate cladding were optimally designed to achieve large fabrication tolerance and a short coupling length with a high coupling efficiency. The coupling length was reduced from 4.1 to 0.8 mm, and a high coupling efficiency of 96% was experimentally demonstrated.     

Attenuation in thin film optical waveguides due to roughness-induced mode coupling

Marcuse's mode-coupling theory for symmetrical planar optical waveguides was extended to cover the asymmetrical case. Computer programs were written to study the particular case of coupling between the zeroth order guided transverse electric (TE) mode and the radiation modes as a function of interface roughness.It is shown that a simple expression proposed by Tien gives results which correspond to the most pessimistic results obtained by the mode-coupling theory. R.f. sputtered thin film planar optical waveguides were prepared. The zeroth order TE guided mode having a vacuum wavelength of 0.6328 μm was excited in the thin film by means of a prism coupler. The attenuation of this mode was inferred from the reduction in intensity of the radiation modes which was measured with a photomultiplier. A Talystep was used to obtain the film thickness and also profiles of the roughness of the film-substrate and film-superstrate interfaces. The roughness profiles were computer-processed to determine the r.m.s. amplitude and the correlation length of the interface roughness. The refractive index was determined from the film thickness and the synchronous coupling angle using the reduced SYNCANG method. These data were used to compute the attenuation of the zeroth order guided TE mode from the mode-coupling theory. The correlation coefficient between the theoretical and experimental results was 0.96.     

Tunable ultrashort electro-optical power divider using coupled photonic crystal waveguides

Photonic crystals (PCs) have many potential applications because of their ability to control lightwave propagation. We have investigated a tunable ultrashort electro-optical power divider in two-dimensional PC structures. The power divider, composed of a dielectric cylinder in air, is studied by solving Maxwell's equations using the plane wave expansion method and finite-difference time-domain method. The power-splitting mechanism is analogous to that of conventional directional couplers, utilizing coupling between guided modes supported by line defect waveguides. To increase the coupling coefficient of the PC coupler, the radius of the rods between two waveguides is reduced. The switching mechanism is a change in the conductance in the coupling region between the waveguides and hence modulating the coupling coefficient, and eventually switching is achieved. Such a mechanism of wavelength multiplexing should open up a new application for designing components in photonic integrated circuits.     

Optical switching in a symmetric three-waveguide nonlinear directional coupler

In this paper we study optical switching in a system of a three-waveguide nonlinear directional coupler. We consider a waveguide structure with three parallel waveguides in a linear, symmetric coupling configuration. We work in the case that the (absolute value of the) difference of the propagation constants of the outer and centre waveguides is much larger than the linear coupling constants. When one of the outer waveguides is initially excited, we show that for small values of the initial power the system behaves as a two-waveguide nonlinear directional coupler where only the two outer waveguides are involved in the switching. For larger values of the initial power, transfer of light between the initially excited waveguide and the centre waveguide is observed.     

Single-mode fiber-linearly tapered planar waveguide tunable coupler

We developed a simple system of tunable fiber-film coupler using a linearly tapered thin-film planar waveguide (PWG) evanescently coupled by a single-mode distributed fiber half-coupler. We investigate the characteristics of the coupler theoretically and experimentally taking into consideration the refractive index (n(f)) of nonuniform films, the magnitude of nonuniformity (m) of the films, and the source wavelength (lambda). The thickness variation of the nonuniform film is along the direction of propagation of optical power. Tapered and plano-concave thin films of a mix of oils as well as a plano-concave poly(methyl methacrylate) film were fabricated to serve as nonuniform PWG's. Similar to single-mode fiber with a uniform thickness PWG coupler, such a coupler also provides light modulation with a change of n(f). However, position shifting of a half-coupler in a tapered PWG structure along the direction of propagation exhibits the variation of fiber throughput power. This action serves as a simple system for a tunable fiber-film coupler. Wavelength-dependent throughput fiber power for such a coupler also behaves as a filter. The center wavelength can be controlled by shifting the position of the half-coupler. A coupling fiber as a half-coupler can be used for efficient coupling. We performed a theoretical analysis of the structure using Marcuse's model and observed good agreement with the experimental results.     

Planar fabrication process of a high-coupling-efficiency interface between optical waveguides of large index difference

A high-coupling-efficiency interface connecting two optical waveguides of large index difference is reported. Both theoretical analysis and an experimental study were performed. High coupling efficiency is achieved by matching the mode profiles in two waveguides as well as connecting the waveguides with an antireflection (AR) section. Analysis shows a coupling efficiency as high as 98% between glass-SiO(2) and Ga(0.72)Al(0.28)As-Ga(0.59)Al(0.41)As waveguides with an AR section of TiO(2). An index difference of 1.8 for the TE(0) mode between these two waveguides is obtained. To implement the glass-SiO(2) waveguide with an AR section in the host AlGaAs waveguide, a new quadrilevel photomasking and lift-off process is developed. A coupling efficiency of 83% was measured for the TE(0) mode at the 1.15-μm wavelength, a very high value considering the large index difference (1.75) between the two waveguides that were connected. The design concept and the fabrication process developed should facilitate efficient integration of low- and high-index waveguides on the same substrate to produce a greater variety of photonic devices and modules.     

Kerr nonlinear coupler with varying linear coupling coefficient

Abstract

We investigate a codirectional nonlinear coupler composed of two Kerr nonlinear waveguides. Unlike the conventional device, the linear coupling between the guides is supposed to be a variable function of the propagation distance. We calculate quantum statistical and dynamical properties of the Kerr nonlinear coupler with a coherent input and analyse the influence of coupling variation on oscillations in mean photon number. The possibility to control the switching characteristics and principal squeezing effect by adjusting the form of coupling function is shown.     

传输紫外激光用空芯光纤结构设计

对传输紫外激光用空芯光纤结构进行了研究.铝膜是从紫外到红外都有很高反射率的理想材料,用它来研制的空芯光纤的直线损耗和弯曲损耗均较小.在铝膜上涂覆设计厚度的低折射率膜可进一步提高系统的反射率,增加传输效率,并保护铝膜免受大气侵蚀.     

Optical performance of symmetrical and asymmetrical Y-branch couplers for plastic optical fibers

The excess loss and output optical power ratio of symmetrical and asymmetrical Y-branch couplers for plastic optical fibers (POFs) are studied in this work. A ray-tracing model for the Y-branch coupler is derived to investigate the effect of coupling parameters on its optical performance. The coupling parameters, namely coupling angle, axial displacement, and refractive index of filling medium between the emitting-end and receiving-end POFs, are studied. The simulated and measured results indicate that the coupling efficiency is sensitive to all these coupling parameters. A minimum excess loss of approximately 0.83 dB is observed for the symmetrical Y-branch coupler. It is found that both the excess loss and the output power ratio are increased with the increase of the refractive index of the filling medium and the total coupling angle (α+β) for the asymmetrical Y-branch coupler. The experimental results indicate that the maximum output power ratio P1∶P2 is found to be 3.8∶1 for excess loss of less than 2.8 dB for the asymmetrical Y-branch coupler.     

The fabrication of index-modulated grating coupler in a polymeric waveguide using two-photon initiated photopolymerization

A simple process suitable for fabrication of volume phase grating coupler in planar optical waveguide by two-photon initiated polymerization is presented. The volume phase grating has been written by scanning femtosecond laser pulses directly on the polymeric thin-film through a high numerical aperture lens. The areas of the index-modulated grating without morphology are 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm. The microstructure feature of coupling grating was illustrated. The corresponding index modulation reaches 0.03. We demonstrated the implementation of input coupling by this grating into the polymeric waveguide film. The measured coupling efficiency was about 11%.     

Analytical solutions of coupled-mode equations for multiwaveguide systems, obtained by use of Chebyshev and generalized Chebyshev polynomials

A novel approach is proposed for obtaining the analytical solutions of the coupled-mode equations (CMEs); the method is applicable for an arbitrary number of coupled waveguides. The mathematical aspects of the CMEs and their solution by use of Chebyshev polynomials are discussed. When mode coupling between only adjacent waveguides is considered (denoted weak coupling), the first and second kinds of the usual Chebyshev polynomials are appropriate for evaluating the CMEs for linearly distributed and circularly distributed multiwaveguide systems, respectively. However, when one is considering the coupling effects between nonadjacent waveguides also (denoted strong coupling), it is necessary to use redefined generalized Chebyshev polynomials to express general solutions in a form similar to those for the weak-coupling case. As concrete examples, analytical solutions for 2 x 2, 3 x 3, and 4 x 4 linearly distributed directional couplers are obtained by the proposed approach, which treats the calculation as a nondegenerate eigenvalue problem. In addition, for the 3 x 3 circularly distributed directional coupler, which gives rise to a degenerate eigenvalue problem, an analytical solution is obtained in an improved way. Also, for comparison and without loss of generality, to clarify the difference between the two coupling cases, analytical solutions for a 5 x 5 circularly distributed directional coupler are obtained by use of the usual and the redefined generalized Chebyshev polynomials.     

Transmission performance of one waveguide and double micro-ring resonator using 3×3 optical fiber coupler

Abstract

This paper investigates theoretically the transmission characteristics of one waveguide and double micro-ring resonator using 3 × 3 optical fibre coupler. Our analytical solution of transmittance is suitable for either linearly distributed coupler or circularly symmetric distributed coupler. The all-optical analogue to electromagnetic inducted transparency spectrum of one waveguide and double micro-ring resonators can be controlled by changing the coupling strength between waveguide and micro-rings, the absorption coefficient around micro-rings, as well as the asymmetric coupling coefficients between non-adjacent waveguides. The curves show that the transitions of transmission spectra sensitively depend on asymmetric coupling coefficients.     

The passive optical properties of a silicon nanoparticle-embedded benzocyclobutene polymer waveguide

The passive optical properties of a silicon nanoparticle-embedded benzocyclobutene (BCB) waveguide were investigated. The silicon nanoparticles, of a size varying from 6 to 25?nm, were prepared by vapor condensation. The transmission modes and losses were examined by the prism coupler and cut-back methods. A He-Ne laser beam with a wavelength of 6328?? was used to measure the effective index and thickness of the waveguide. Laser light could be efficiently coupled into the BCB waveguide when the embedded Si nanoparticles were smaller than 6?nm. The film thickness and effective index of the Si-embedded BCB waveguide were measured to be 1.825?μm and 1.565, respectively. The optical transmission losses of the pure BCB and Si-embedded ridge waveguides measured by the cut-back method were 0.85 and 1.63?dB?cm(-1), respectively. Although the optical loss was increased by the embedded Si, the disturbance of the output contour was quite small. This result demonstrates that the nanoparticle-embedded polymer waveguide may be used for optoelectronic integrated circuits.     

Quantum statistics and dynamics of nonlinear couplers with nonlinear exchange

Abstract

In this paper we derive the quantum statistical and dynamical properties of nonlinear optical couplers composed of two nonlinear waveguides operating by second subharmonic generation, which are coupled linearly through evanescent waves and nonlinearly through non-degenerate optical parametric interaction. Main attention is paid to generation and transmission of non-classical light, based on a discussion of the squeezing phenomenon, the normalized second-order correlation function and quasiprobability distribution functions. Initially coherent, number and thermal states of optical beams are considered. In particular, results are discussed with dependence on the strength of the nonlinear coupling relatively to the linear coupling. We show that if the Fock state |1〉 enters the first waveguide and the vacuume state |0〉 enters the second waveguide, the coupler can serve as a generator of squeezed vacuum state governed by the coupler parameters. Further, if thermal fields enter initially the waveguides the coupler plays a similar role as a microwave Josephson-junction parametric amplifier to generate squeezed thermal light.