Abstract

We will review the latest results on development of submicron silicon-on-insulator waveguiding structures – photonic crystals (PhC) and single-mode strip waveguides. We will show that two major problems, which hindered the development of the silicon micro-photonics technology, large waveguide propagation losses and large coupling losses to submicron high index waveguides, have been solved [1-4]. Further optimization of mode matching at interfaces between fiber coupler, strip waveguides and PhC allow elimination of parasitic back-reflections in the optical circuit and suppress Fabry-Perot noise. Clean optical spectra obtained from fiber-coupled devices make it possible to extract detailed quantitative information on the characteristics of each component in the circuit and to perform direct fitting of the transmission with 3D FDTD and band structure calculations.

© 2004 Optical Society of America