Silicon on ultra-low-loss waveguide photonic integration platform

We demonstrate a novel integrated silicon and ultra-low-loss Si3N4 waveguide platform. Coupling between layers is achieved with (0.4 +/- 0.2) dB of loss per transition and a 20 nm 3-dB bandwidth for one tapered coupler design and with (0.8 +/- 0.2) dB of loss per transition and a 100 nm 3-dB bandwidth for another. The minimum propagation loss measured in the ultra-low-loss waveguides is 1.2 dB/m in the 1590 nm wavelength regime. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America