Development of Fabrication Technology of Surface Fiber Mounted Optical Couplers for Wavelength Division Multiplex and Space Division Multiplex

• Project/Area Number: 20K04634
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 21060:Electron device and electronic equipment-related
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Yoshida Tomoya 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, エレクトロニクス・製造領域, 主任研究員 (80462844)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,290,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥990,000); Fiscal Year 2022: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2021: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
• Keywords: シリコンフォトニクス / 光集積回路 / イオン注入 / MEMS / 光結合器 / エレファントカプラ / 光ファイバ

Outline of Research at the Start

チップ上で光-電気信号変換を実現できるシリコン光集積回路の実用化において、永年の課題であった光カプラのジレンマを克服するための革新的製造技術を開発する。申請者らが開発している立体湾曲型光カプラは、光ファイバ実装が容易な表面型でありながら、高効率かつ広波長帯域の光結合特性を実現できる画期的な方法である。実用化に向けて光のモードフィールドの拡大を進め、当初の2μmから現在5μmまで実現できた。これを汎用的な光ファイバの10μmまで拡大するために、今回、立体湾曲型光カプラ製造のための中核技術である、イオン注入薄膜変形技術の革新に挑戦する。

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, we aimed at the innovation of IIB technology, which is the core technology of elephant coupler fabrication, with the aim of realizing an elephant coupler with a mode size of 10 μm. In the conventional IIB, it was difficult to form a three-dimensional curved portion while keeping the tip tapered portion straight, and it was not possible to realize an elephant coupler with a mode size of 10 μm. We clarified the relationship between the irradiation angle of ion-beam-implantation and the bending effect, and by using that effect, we found that the degree of freedom in processing of the IIB technology was greatly increased, and that it could be used to form the desired elephant coupler.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で得られた成果は、エレファントカプラを一般的な光ファイバに対応可能とする革新的な基盤技術となる。それにより、波長分割多重や空間分割多重への応用の障壁が格段に下がり、ひいては、光通信のデータ伝送レートを飛躍的に向上させるための基盤技術になることが期待される。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Improvement of fabrication accuracy of vertically curved silicon waveguide optical coupler using hard mask shielded ion implantation bending (2020)
  • Author(s): Yoshida Tomoya、Atsumi Yuki、Omoda Emiko、Sakakibara Youichi
  • Journal Title: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Volume: 59 Issue: 7 Pages: 078003-078003
  • DOI: 10.35848/1347-4065/ab9cd8
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Polarization-Insensitive Vertically Curved Si Surface Optical Coupler Bent by Ion Implantation (2020)
  • Author(s): Yoshida Tomoya、Atsumi Yuki、Omoda Emiko、Sakakibara Youichi
  • Journal Title: IEEE Photonics Technology Letters Volume: 32 Issue: 20 Pages: 1319-1322
  • DOI: 10.1109/lpt.2020.3022354
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Presentation] Core-to-Core Switching Module for 4-Core MCFs Using Silicon Photonics Matrix Switch Incorporating Silicon Vertically Curved Optical Coupler (2023)
  • Author(s): Tomoya Yoshida, Yuki Atsumi, Emiko Omoda, Katsuya Kito, Katsuhiro Iwasaki, Yusuke Kinoshita, Tomoaki Kiriyama, Ryotaro Konoike, Keijiro Suzuki, Ryosuke Matsumoto, Takashi Inoue, Kazuhiro Ikeda, Takashi Kato, and Youichi Sakakibara
  • Organizer: Optical Fiber Communication Conference 2023
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Demonstration of Port-Selective Beam Scanner Incorporating Silicon Vertically Curved Waveguide Antenna Arrays (2022)
  • Author(s): Yuki Atsumi; Tomoya Yoshida; Ryosuke Matsumoto; Ryotaro Konoike;
  • Organizer: 2022 27th OptoElectronics and Communications Conference (OECC) and 2022 International Conference on Photonics in Switching and Computing (PSC)
  • Int'l Joint Research