title: Fabrication and characterization of three-dimensional silicon tapers.
abstract: We present the fabrication of 3D adiabatically tapered structures, for efficient coupling from an optical fiber, or free-space, to a chip. These structures are fabricated integrally with optical waveguides in a silicon-on-insulator wafer. Fabrication involves writing a single grayscale mask in HEBS glass with a high-energy electron beam, ultra-violet grayscale lithography, and inductively coupled plasma etching. We also present the experimentally determined coupling efficiencies of the fabricated tapers using end-fire coupling. The design parameters of the tapered structures are based on electromagnetic simulations and are discussed in this paper.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sure
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dillon
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murakowski
authors.forename: Chunchen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pustai
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prather