Accurate theoretical and experimental characterization of optical grating coupler

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Periodic structures, acting as reflectors, filters, and couplers, are a fundamental building block section in many optical devices. In this paper, a three-dimensional simulation of a grating coupler, a well-known periodic structure, is conducted. Guided waves and leakage characteristics of an out-of-plane grating coupler are studied in detail, and its coupling efficiency is examined. Furthermore, a numerical calibration analysis is applied through a commercial software package on the basis of a full-wave finite-element method to calculate the complex propagation constant of the structure and to evaluate the radiation pattern. For experimental evaluation, an optimized grating coupler is fabricated using electron-beam lithography technique and plasma etching. An excellent agreement between simulations and measurements is observed, thereby validating the demonstrated method.