Low-Loss Silicon Nitride AWG Demultiplexer Heterogeneously Integrated With Hybrid III-V/Silicon Photodetectors

A unique and novel platform that combines III-V and silicon photonic components with ultra-low loss silicon nitride waveguides for monolithic integration of novel photonic circuits is presented. Successful (proof-of-principle) integration of eight hybrid III-V/silicon photodetectors and an arrayed waveguide grating is shown. The InGaAs photodiodes in this platform had average fiber-coupled responsivity of 0.36 A/W at 1550 nm, 30 GHz electrical bandwidth, and operated up to 50 Gb/s. The AWG had an insertion loss of 0.85 dB and adjacent-channel cross-talk less than -38 dB.