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Fused Vertical Couplers

Technology Benefits

The new UC technology enables the development of compact and scalable 3-D directional couplers (by allowing vertical separation of input and output waveguides), and solves some of the problems in optical switching. B. Liu, A. Shakouri, P. Abraham, B. Kim, A. W. Jackson, and J. E. Bowers, "Fused Vertical Couplers," Applied Physics Letters 72(21): 2637-2638 (1998).

Technology Application

The vertical coupler provides multilevel capabilities of importance to the entire optoelectronics industry.

Detailed Technology Description

Using wafer fusion, scientists at the University of California have fabricated a novel vertical-directional coupler with a very short coupling length (47 micrometers).

Supplementary Information

Patent Number: US6385376B1
Application Number: US1999425543A
Inventor: Bowers, John E. | Liu, Bin | Abraham, Patrick | Kim, Boo Gyoun | Shakouri, Ali
Priority Date: 30 Oct 1998
Priority Number: US6385376B1
Application Date: 22 Oct 1999
Publication Date: 7 May 2002
IPC Current: G02B000612 | G02B0006125 | G02F0001313
US Class: 385050 | 385016 | 385130 | 385131
Assignee Applicant: The Regents of the University of California
Title: Fused vertical coupler for switches, filters and other electro-optic devices
Usefulness: Fused vertical coupler for switches, filters and other electro-optic devices
Summary: Fused vertical electro-optic coupler for switches, filters and electro-optic devices for fiber optic system e.g. compact semiconductor optical waveguide switches for high speed optical communication network and optical information processing, integrated compact and narrow band optical filters for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system.
Novelty: Fused vertical electro-optic coupler for e.g. switches, has single-mode ridge-loaded waveguide structures which are coupled through fused gap layer

Industry

Optics

Sub Category

Optical Fiber

Application No.

6385376

Others

Additional Technologies by these Inventors

• Loss Modulated Silicon Evanescent Lasers
• Ring Resonator-Based Optical Isolator and Circulator
• Water-Soluble ETL Polymers for LEDs
• Integrated Dielectric Waveguide and Semiconductor Layer
• Integrated Bidirectional Optical Amplifier (BOA) for Optical Interconnects
• Integrated Reconfigurable Circulator
• Advanced Tunable Long-Wavelength Vertical-Cavity Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers
• Epitaxial Laser Integration on Silicon Based Substrates
• Orthogonal Mode Laser Gyro
• Unipolar Light Emitting Devices On Silicon Based Substrates
• A Hybrid Silicon Laser-Quantum Well Intermixing Wafer Bonded Integration Platform
• Quantum Dot Photonic Integrated Circuits
• Misfit Dislocation Free Quantum Dot Lasers

Tech ID/UC Case

10108/1998-080-0

Related Cases

1998-080-0

*Abstract

Wafer fusion is a powerful technique for fabricating structures that cannot be realized by conventional epitaxial growth and processing. Wafer fusion provides an extra degree of freedom in the design and fabrication of 3-D photonic devices. Large switch arrays can be produced by displacing the input and output waveguides vertically in different planes. Compact high-extinction-ratio directional couplers are essential to the switching process.

*IP Issue Date

May 7, 2002

*Principal Investigator

Name: Patrick Abraham

Department:

Name: John Bowers

Department:

Name: Boo-Gyoun Kim

Department:

Name: Bin Liu

Department:

Name: Ali Shakouri

Department:

Country/Region

USA