Despite the current widespread use of silicon photonics, fiber coupling remains one of the principal challenges in mass production. Integrated microlens couplers (IMCs) have been demonstrated as an efficient, broadband, and polarization-insensitive method for wafer-scale fiber-to-chip coupling, with a previously achieved free-space coupling loss of 0.6 dB. In this project, our goal is to further improve the performance and enhance the fabrication robustness of our IMCs. Specifically, we are replacing the polymer with hard material and developing a design that balances rotational and translational tolerances. These improvements aim to build the IMC into a reliable, pluggable fiber-to-chip connector.
Project is currently funded by: Industry Sponsored Research