Efficient perfectly vertical fiber-to-chip grating coupler for silicon horizontal multiple slot waveguides

Horizontal multiple slot waveguides of polysilicon and silicon nanocrystalline oxide were grating coupled to a surface normal fiber array. Measurements yielded a coupling efficiency of 60% per grating. The fabrication-tolerant, four-stage grating design was genetically evolved from a random seed without starting from first-principle design. Theoretical coupling efficiency was 68% and was re-designed to 63% after accommodating all sources of fabrication error. To our knowledge, this is the first implementation of a purely polysilicon and silicon nanocrystalline oxide slot waveguide platform. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America