3-D photonic circuit technology

Vertically coupled, wafer-bonded III-V semiconductor waveguide devices provide a means to obtain more powerful, compact photonic integrated circuits and allow for the combination of different materials onto a single chip. Various switching, filtering, multiplexing, and beam splitting devices in the InP-InGaAsP and GaAs-AlGaAs systems for signals in the 1550-nm range have been realized. An investigation of optimal optical add-drop multiplexer waveguide layout shapes has been performed through integration of the coupled-mode Riccati equation, providing potential sidelobe levels of less than -32 dB and filter bandwidths over 20% narrower than those of previous devices. Effects of nonideal processing conditions on filter performance are analyzed as well.