title: Nanotaper for compact mode conversion.
abstract: We propose and demonstrate an efficient coupler for compact mode conversion between a fiber and a submicrometer waveguide. The coupler is composed of high-index-contrast materials and is based on a short taper with a nanometer-sized tip. We show that the micrometer-long silicon-on-insulator-based nanotaper coupler is able to efficiently convert both the mode field profile and the effective index, with a total length as short as 40 microm. We measure an enhancement of the coupling efficiency between an optical fiber and a waveguide by 1 order of magnitude due to the coupler.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, 411 Phillips Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. vra2@cornell.edu
authors.forename: Vilson R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Roberto R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Panepucci
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lipson