Advances in waveguide to waveguide couplers for 3D integrated photonic packaging

By Drew Weninger ¹, Samuel Serna ², Luigi Ranno ³, Lionel Kimerling ³ and Anuradha Agarwal ^1
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. 
² Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, USA. 
³ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. 

Abstract

In this paper, we provide an overview and comparison of devices used for optical waveguide-to-waveguide coupling including inter-chip edge couplers, grating couplers, free form couplers, evanescent couplers, cantilever couplers, and optical wirebonds. In addition, technology for efficient transmission of light through chips is discussed including guided mode and free form photonic vias for substrates including silicon, glass, and organics. The results are discussed in the context of potential applications including co-packaged optics switch packages, replaceable biochemical sensors, optically connected memory, optical computing, integrated quantum photonics, and integrated LiDAR systems to show possible improvements in energy efficiency, performance, and cost.

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