Broadband end face coupler based on lithium niobate thin film and preparation method thereof
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of photonic devices, in particular to a broadband end face coupler based on a lithium niobate thin film and a preparation method thereof.
Background
Lithium niobate has great potential in nonlinear applications due to its higher refractive index, wider light transmission range, high second-order nonlinear coefficient and ferroelectric property. In addition, by utilizing the ferroelectric property of the lithium niobate, the direction of the lithium niobate electric dipole can be periodically reversed to realize quasi-phase matching, so that high nonlinear conversion efficiency is obtained. Conventional lithium niobate devices typically employ titanium diffusion techniques or proton exchange to form lithium niobate waveguides. However, due to the low refractive index contrast (Δ n ≈ 0.01), the mode limitation of the conventional lithium niobate device is weak, the device size is large, and the nonlinear efficiency is low. The lithium niobate thin film device with high refractive index contrast (delta n is approximately equal to 0.7) can greatly reduce the size of the device, enhance the mode field constraint capacity and promote the interaction between light and substances, thereby realizing the high-efficiency nonlinear frequency conversion under low input power. However, the size of the optical mode field in the lithium niobate thin film waveguide is in the order of submicron, so that it is difficult to achieve broadband and efficient coupling with a single mode fiber or a tapered fiber (the size of the mode field is in the order of micron).
At present, optical coupling technologies on lithium niobate thin films mainly include a grating coupling technology and an end face coupling technology. The grating coupling technology utilizes the diffraction effect of a periodic grating structure to couple light out of the surface of a waveguide through a grating and into an optical fiber, or couple light into the waveguide from the optical fiber. At present, researches on grating couplers of an optical communication C waveband (1550nm) and a visible light waveband (775nm) are carried out, but the grating couplers have the defects of low coupling efficiency, small bandwidth and polarization correlation, can only realize optical coupling in a narrow range of specific wavelength, and cannot simultaneously meet the coupling of light with a plurality of different wavelengths in a nonlinear process. The end-face coupling technology usually uses a tapered optical fiber or a lens to focus a light spot, and the light spot is butted with the end face of an optical waveguide to realize optical coupling. The end face coupling has the advantages of large working bandwidth, high coupling efficiency and insensitivity to polarization. At present, a low-loss high-coupling C-band end face coupling device is realized on a lithium niobate thin film, but the coupling bandwidth of the device still does not meet the coupling requirement in a nonlinear process. In particular, short wavelengths have stronger mode field confinement capability than long wavelengths, and it is more difficult to achieve efficient coupling with optical fibers. There is also no end-face coupler that can simultaneously cover the near-visible to near-infrared bands.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a broadband end face coupler based on a lithium niobate thin film and a preparation method thereof, aiming at overcoming the defects of narrow coupling bandwidth and low coupling efficiency in the prior art.
In order to solve the technical problems, the technical scheme of the invention is as follows:
a broadband end face coupler based on a lithium niobate film comprises a substrate, an insulating layer arranged on the substrate, a first waveguide core layer, a second waveguide core layer, a third waveguide core layer, a lithium niobate film layer and a waveguide layer which are arranged on the insulating layer, and a low-refractive-index coupling waveguide layer which covers the first waveguide core layer, the second waveguide core layer and the third waveguide core layer; wherein:
the second waveguide core layer comprises a second waveguide flat layer and a second waveguide ridge layer arranged on the second waveguide flat layer; one side of the second waveguide slab layer is connected with one side of the first waveguide core layer;
the third waveguide core layer comprises a third waveguide flat layer, a third waveguide intermediate layer arranged on the third waveguide flat layer, and a third waveguide ridge layer arranged on the third waveguide intermediate layer; one side of the third waveguide flat plate layer is connected with the other side of the second waveguide flat plate layer, and one side of the third waveguide middle layer is connected with one side of the second waveguide ridge layer;
the first waveguide core layer, the second waveguide core layer and the third waveguide core layer form an inverted wedge-shaped structure, and the tip of the inverted wedge-shaped structure points to the coupling end of the lithium niobate thin film layer and the optical fiber;
the lithium niobate thin film layer is connected with the other sides of the third waveguide flat layer and the third waveguide middle layer, and the waveguide layer is connected with the other side of the third waveguide ridge layer.
Preferably, the first waveguide core layer, the second waveguide slab layer and the third waveguide slab layer have the same height and the height is less than 100 nm.
Preferably, the second waveguide ridge layer and the third waveguide intermediate layer have the same height and a height of less than 100 nm.
Preferably, the waveguide layer and the third waveguide ridge layer have the same height, and the width of the waveguide layer is the same as the width of the other side of the third waveguide ridge layer.
Preferably, the refractive index of the second waveguide core layer is greater than the refractive index of the first waveguide core layer, and the refractive index of the second waveguide core layer is smaller than the refractive index of the third waveguide core layer.
Preferably, the width of the low index coupling waveguide is configured to match the tapered fiber mode field.
Preferably, in the inverse wedge structure composed of the first waveguide core layer, the second waveguide core layer, and the third waveguide core layer, the tip size is set to match the refractive index of the low-refractive-index coupling waveguide layer.
Preferably, the second waveguide flat layer and the second waveguide ridge layer are reduced into a wedge-shaped structure asynchronously at different layers, and the third waveguide flat layer, the third waveguide intermediate layer and the third waveguide ridge layer are reduced into a wedge-shaped structure asynchronously at different layers.
Preferably, the low index coupling waveguide layer comprises a low index polymer or silicon oxynitride.
Further, the invention also provides a preparation method of the broadband end-face coupler based on the lithium niobate thin film, which is used for preparing the broadband end-face coupler provided by any technical scheme, and the preparation method specifically comprises the following steps:
s1: manufacturing the waveguide layer and the third waveguide ridge layer by utilizing photoetching and etching technologies;
s2: photoetching and preparing a mask structure of a second waveguide ridge layer and a third waveguide middle layer on the sample obtained in the step S1;
s3: spin-coating photoresist on the sample obtained in the step S2, and obtaining a mask plate for protecting the waveguide layer by utilizing an ultraviolet lithography technology;
s4: etching and preparing a second waveguide ridge layer and a third waveguide intermediate layer on the sample obtained in the step S3;
s5: cleaning the sample obtained in the step S4, and removing the residual photoresist and the mask;
s6: photoetching and preparing mask structures of a first waveguide core layer, a second waveguide flat plate layer and a third waveguide flat plate layer on the sample obtained in the step S5;
s7: spin-coating photoresist on the sample obtained in the step S6, and obtaining a mask plate for protecting the waveguide layer by utilizing an ultraviolet lithography technology;
s8: etching and preparing a first waveguide core layer, a second waveguide flat plate layer and a third waveguide flat plate layer on the sample obtained in the step S7;
s9: cleaning the sample obtained in the step S8, and removing the residual photoresist and the mask;
s10: depositing or spin-coating a low-refractive-index waveguide material on the sample obtained in the step S9;
s11: utilizing photoetching, etching or developing to manufacture a low-refractive-index coupling waveguide layer;
s12: and (4) performing end face cleavage and polishing on the sample obtained in the step S11 to finish the preparation of the broadband end face coupler.
Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the invention has the beneficial effects that: according to the invention, the low-refractive-index coupling waveguide layer is arranged for matching with the tapered optical fiber mode field, so that the bandwidth can be widened and the coupling efficiency can be improved; the first waveguide core layer, the second waveguide core layer and the third waveguide core layer are adopted to form a reverse wedge-shaped structure, so that the optical mode field is completely transmitted to the third waveguide core layer, the optical mode field is continuously transmitted in the waveguide layers, the problem of unmatched refractive index under short wave is solved, the coupling bandwidth is improved, and the range of the coupling bandwidth can cover near visible light to near infrared wave bands.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a broadband end-face coupler based on a lithium niobate thin film of example 1.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the broadband end-face coupler of embodiment 1.
Fig. 3 is a top view of the broadband end-face coupler of embodiment 1.
Fig. 4 is a graph showing the effect of the simulation experiment in example 1.
Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method of making a lithium niobate thin film based broadband end-face coupler of example 2. The waveguide structure comprises a substrate 1, an insulating layer 2, a first waveguide core layer 3, a second waveguide core layer 4, a second waveguide flat plate layer 41, a second waveguide ridge layer 42, a third waveguide core layer 5, a third waveguide flat plate layer 51, a third waveguide middle layer 52, a third waveguide ridge layer 53, a lithium niobate thin film layer 6, a waveguide layer 7 and a coupling waveguide layer 8 with low refractive index.
Detailed Description
The drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the patent;
for the purpose of better illustrating the embodiments, certain features of the drawings may be omitted, enlarged or reduced, and do not represent the size of an actual product;
it will be understood by those skilled in the art that certain well-known structures in the drawings and descriptions thereof may be omitted.
The technical solution of the present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.
Example 1
The present embodiment provides a broadband end-face coupler based on a lithium niobate thin film, which is a schematic structural diagram of the broadband end-face coupler based on the lithium niobate thin film of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 to 3.
The broadband end-face coupler based on the lithium niobate thin film provided by the embodiment comprises:
a substrate 1;
an insulating layer 2 disposed on the substrate 1;
the waveguide structure comprises a first waveguide core layer 3, a second waveguide core layer 4, a third waveguide core layer 5, a lithium niobate thin film layer 6 and a waveguide layer 7 which are arranged on an insulating layer 2;
and the low-refractive-index coupling waveguide layer 8 covers the first waveguide core layer 3, the second waveguide core layer 4 and the third waveguide core layer 5.
Wherein, the second waveguide core layer 4 comprises a second waveguide slab layer 41 and a second waveguide ridge layer 42 disposed on the second waveguide slab layer 41; one side of the second waveguide slab layer 41 is connected with one side of the first waveguide core layer 3;
the third waveguide core layer 5 includes a third waveguide slab layer 51, a third waveguide intermediate layer 52 provided on the third waveguide slab layer 51, and a third waveguide ridge layer 53 provided on the third waveguide intermediate layer 52; one side edge of the third waveguide slab layer 51 is connected to the other side edge of the second waveguide slab layer 41, and one side edge of the third waveguide intermediate layer 52 is connected to one side edge of the second waveguide ridge layer 42;
the lithium niobate thin film layer 6 is connected to the other sides of the third waveguide flat layer 51 and the third waveguide intermediate layer 52, and the waveguide layer 7 is connected to the other side of the third waveguide ridge layer 53.
In this embodiment, the first waveguide core layer 3, the second waveguide core layer 4, and the third waveguide core layer 5 form an inverse wedge structure, a tip of the inverse wedge structure points to a coupling end of the lithium niobate thin film layer 6 and the optical fiber, and a tip size of the inverse wedge structure is set to match a refractive index of the low-refractive-index coupled waveguide layer 8.
In this embodiment, the first waveguide core layer 3, the second waveguide slab layer 41, and the third waveguide slab layer 51 have the same height and the height is less than 100 nm; the second waveguide ridge layer 42 and the third waveguide intermediate layer 52 have the same height and the height is less than 100 nm; the waveguide layer 7 and the third waveguide ridge layer 53 have the same height, and the width of the waveguide layer 7 is the same as the width of the other side of the third waveguide ridge layer 53.
The width and height of the first waveguide core layer 3, the second waveguide core layer 4 and the third waveguide core layer 5 are changed layer by layer, so that large mode spots in the low-refractive-index coupled waveguide layer 8 are changed layer by layer to be consistent with mode spots in the lithium niobate thin film layer 6 and the waveguide layer 7, and high mode spot conversion efficiency is achieved.
In the present embodiment, the thicknesses of the first waveguide core layer 3, the second waveguide core layer 4, and the third waveguide core layer 5, and the width of the tip of the reverse wedge-shaped structure are set, so that the mode refractive index is matched with the refractive index of the low-refractive-index coupled waveguide layer 8, and thus mode-field coupling and conversion between the mode-field coupled waveguide layer and the low-refractive-index coupled waveguide layer 8 can be realized in a wide wavelength range, and the problem of refractive index mismatch under short wave is solved.
Wherein the length of the first waveguide core layer 3 is such that light can be coupled into the first waveguide core layer 3 entirely from the low-index coupling waveguide layer 8.
Further, in this embodiment, the refractive index of the second waveguide core layer 4 is greater than the refractive index of the first waveguide core layer 3, and the refractive index of the second waveguide core layer 4 is less than the refractive index of the third waveguide core layer 5, so that complete mode field transition transmission between the first waveguide core layer 3 and the third waveguide core layer 5 can be realized.
Because the refractive index contrast of the lithium niobate thin film layer 6 is large, the mode field size in the waveguide is in a submicron order, and the efficient mode field coupling between the waveguide and the single-mode fiber or the lens fiber is difficult to realize. In contrast, in the present embodiment, the micron-sized coupling waveguide with a low refractive index is used to solve the problem, and the width of the coupling waveguide is set to match the mode field of the tapered optical fiber, so that the high-efficiency coupling between the optical fiber and the broadband end-face coupler is realized, and the optical coupling efficiency is improved.
The waveguide layer 7 in this embodiment is a fixed width region, different layers of the second waveguide slab layer 41 and the second waveguide ridge layer 42 are not synchronously tapered into a wedge-shaped structure, and different layers of the third waveguide slab layer 51, the third waveguide intermediate layer 52 and the third waveguide ridge layer 53 are not synchronously tapered into a wedge-shaped structure. Wherein the wedge-shaped structure of the third waveguide ridge layer 53 widens its width to conform to the width of the waveguide layer 7; the first waveguide core layer 3, the second waveguide flat plate layer 41 and the third waveguide flat plate layer 51 also form an inverse wedge-shaped structure, the width of the inverse wedge-shaped structure is widened along with the wedge-shaped structure, the alignment tolerance of the device in the process is improved, and the process alignment requirement is reduced.
Further, the material of the low-refractive-index coupling waveguide layer 8 in this embodiment is low-refractive-index polymer, silicon oxynitride, or the like.
The embodiment can realize the cross-scale high-efficiency end face coupling of the ridge type optical waveguide submicron optical mode field and the micron optical fiber mode field, and the range of the end face coupling covers near visible light to near infrared wave bands.
Fig. 4 is a graph showing the experimental effect of the present example. In this embodiment, the coupling efficiencies of the broadband end-face coupler of this embodiment in the 775nm, 1064nm, 1310nm, 1550nm and 1630nm bands are respectively 3dB/facet, 2.2dB/facet, 3.1dB/facet, 2.2dB/facet and 2.8dB/facet as obtained through experimental measurements (as shown in fig. 4 by the star), which indicates that the coupler can realize stable and efficient coupling in the near-visible to near-infrared band (775nm-1630 nm). According to the simulation result (as shown by the solid line in fig. 4), the broadband end-face coupler of the present embodiment can achieve high-efficiency coupling even in a longer wavelength band.
Example 2
This example proposes a method for preparing a wideband end-face coupler based on a lithium niobate thin film, which is used to prepare the wideband end-face coupler based on a lithium niobate thin film proposed in example 1. Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a lithium niobate thin film-based wideband end-face coupler according to this embodiment.
The method for preparing the broadband end-face coupler based on the lithium niobate thin film, provided by the embodiment, comprises the following steps:
s1: the waveguide layer 7 and the third waveguide ridge layer 53 are produced by photolithography and etching techniques;
s2: photoetching and preparing a mask structure of the second waveguide ridge layer 42 and the third waveguide intermediate layer 52 on the sample obtained in the step S1;
s3: spin-coating a photoresist on the sample obtained in the step S2, and obtaining a mask for protecting the waveguide layer 7 by using an ultraviolet lithography technique;
s4: etching and preparing a second waveguide ridge layer 42 and a third waveguide intermediate layer 52 on the sample obtained in the step S3;
s5: cleaning the sample obtained in the step S4, and removing the residual photoresist and the mask;
s6: photoetching and preparing mask structures of a first waveguide core layer 3, a second waveguide flat plate layer 41 and a third waveguide flat plate layer 51 on the sample obtained in the step S5;
s7: spin-coating a photoresist on the sample obtained in the step S6, and obtaining a mask for protecting the waveguide layer 7 by using an ultraviolet lithography technique;
s8: etching and preparing a first waveguide core layer 3, a second waveguide flat plate layer 41 and a third waveguide flat plate layer 51 on the sample obtained in the step S7;
s9: cleaning the sample obtained in the step S8, and removing the residual photoresist and the mask;
s10: depositing or spin-coating a low-refractive-index waveguide material on the sample obtained in the step S9;
s11: manufacturing a low-refractive-index coupling waveguide layer 8 by photoetching, etching or developing;
s12: and (4) performing end face cleavage and polishing on the sample obtained in the step S11 to finish the preparation of the broadband end face coupler.
The same or similar reference numerals correspond to the same or similar parts;
the terms describing positional relationships in the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting the patent;
it should be understood that the above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely examples for clearly illustrating the present invention, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present invention. Other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art in light of the above description. And are neither required nor exhaustive of all embodiments. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.