Efficient integrated tri-modal coupler for few-mode fibers

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:49:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-01-17 This paper demonstrates a high-efficiency vertical grating coupler for the LP01x, LP11ax, and LP11bx modes of a graded-index few-mode fiber. The coupler is composed of a non-uniform straight bidirectional grating that was inverse-designed to address the desired fiber modes, combined with two mode-selective directional couplers and two tapers. The device was fabricated by e-beam lithography with a minimum feature size of 100 nm and presented coupling efficiencies of -3.0 dB, -3.6 dB, and -3.4 dB for the LP01x, LP11ax, and LP11bx modes, respectively. The high efficiency of the proposed CMOS-compatible coupler demonstrates its potential as a key device for high-capacity networks exploiting space division multiplexing on few-mode fibers. Photonics Research Center University of Campinas, SP School of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Campinas, SP Gleb Wataghin Physics Institute University of Campinas, SP Corning Research & Development Corporation One Science Drive Center for Advanced and Sustainable Technologies State University of São Paulo, SP,da Boa Vista