WAVE-GUIDE DEVICES WITH GRATING COUPLER OPTIMIZATION - APPLICATION TO OPTICAL SWITCHING DEVICES

Numerous devices used in the field of photonics and optronics are made of semiconductor multilayered structures including a nonlinear waveguide and a grating coupler. Optimization of such devices depends on the optical thicknesses of the various layers and on the grating characteristics. For a given sample, the layer parameters are usually known as a first approximation, but a good accuracy is necessary to define the operating wavelength and the coupler characteristics. In a particular case- a InP/InGaAsP/InP sample which operates for optical switching in the transmission mode - we have first defined an optimized structure. Then, we have built an experimental set-up able to measure reflection and transmission coefficients versus polarization, wavelength and incidence angle. From transmission measurements performed with this apparatus, we have deduced both real and imaginary parts of the layers refractive indices. These calculated values allowed us to reoptimize the structure and to determine the operating wavelength.