Dana Seyringer

Design and simulation of 128-channel 10 GHz AWG for ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexing

In this paper we present the design and simulation of 128-channel 10 GHz AWG. The design was performed applying our new developed stand-alone software tool, called AWG-Parameters, and simulated by commercial software tool Optiwave. Simulated transmission characteristics were evaluated using AWG-Analyzer tool and calculated transmission parameters confirm very good agreement between the design and simulation.

AWG-Parameters: new software tool to design arrayed waveguide gratings

A new software tool and its application in the design of optical multiplexers/demultiplexers based on arrayed waveguide gratings is presented. The motivation for this work is the fact that when designing arrayed waveguide gratings a set of geometrical parameters must be first calculated. These parameters are the input for AWG layout that will be created and simulated using commercial photonic design tools. It is important to point out that these parameters influence strongly correct AWG demultiplexing properties and therefore have to be calculated very carefully. However, most of the commercial photonic design tools do not support this fundamental calculation. To be able to design any AWG, with any software tool and particularly to save the time needed for AWG design a new software tool was developed. The tool was already applied in various AWG designs and also technologically well-proven.

Design, simulation, evaluation, and technological verification of arrayed waveguide gratings

Abstract. We present the design, simulation, evaluation, and technological verification of various low-index optical demultiplexers based on arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs). When designing such optical demultiplexers, a set of input geometrical parameters must be first calculated. They are essential to create AWG layout that will be then simulated using commercial photonics tools. However, these tools do not support or support only partially such a fundamental calculation. Therefore, a new stand-alone tool called AWG-Parameters was developed, which strongly reduces the time needed for the design. From the calculated geometrical parameters, the AWG layouts were created and simulated using three commercial photonic tools: Optiwave, (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), Apollo Photonics, (Ancaster, Ontario, Canada), and R-Soft, (Pasadena, California). The designs were also technologically verified. The simulated/measured transmission characteristics were evaluated by our newly developed AWG-Analyzer tool. This tool provides calculations of AWG transmission parameters, which are also missing in commercial photonic tools. Additionally, the tool provides clear definitions of calculated transmission parameters together with their textual and graphical representations. Finally, the transmission characteristics and parameters achieved from different photonic tools were compared with each other and discussed in detail. The simulated results were also compared with the measurements. Very good agreement was achieved between theoretical (AWG-Parameters tool), simulated (commercial photonic tools), and fabricated AWG transmission parameters.

Design, simulation and evaluation of AWG based demultiplexers

We present the design, simulation and evaluation of low-index 8-channel, 100 GHz optical demultiplexer based on arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG). The AWG structure was designed using AWG-Parameters tool and the layout was created and simulated using three commercial photonic tools: Optiwave, Apollo Photonics and R-Soft. The design was also technologically verified. The output simulated/measured transmission characteristics were evaluated by AWG-Analyzer tool. The transmission parameters, calculated from simulated/measured characteristics, show very similar results however, the best agreement was achieved between the measurement and the Optiwave simulation.

Influence of waveguide structure on Y-branch splitting ratio

It is well known that the main problem in the Y-branch splitting approach is the processing of the branching point where two waveguides start to separate. This is technologically very difficult; leading generally to an asymmetric splitting ratio causing non-uniformity of the split power over all the output waveguides. In this work we show that not only processing of branching points influences strongly splitting properties of the device but also the used waveguide structure itself. The standard low index waveguides have usually size of 6 μm x 6 μm ensuring on one side small coupling loses between fibers and waveguides and on the other side supporting mainly the single mode light propagation. However, our simulations showed that in the standard 6 μm x 6 μm waveguides is the presence of the first mode already so strong that it causes additional asymmetric splitting of the optical signals. To suppress the presence of the first mode we reduced the waveguide core size from 6 μm x 6 μm to 5.5 μm x 5.5 μm and 5 μm x 5 μm and this way were able to improve the uniformity of the split power over all the output waveguides by factor 3. Additionally, based on these results we were also able to reduce the size of the designed Y-branch to the half.

Design and Optimization of High-Channel Si3N4 Based AWGs for Medical Applications

We present the design and optimization of 80-channel, 50-GHz Si3N4 based AWG. The AWG was designed for TM-polarized light with a central wavelength of 850 nm. The simulations showed that, while the standard channel count AWGs (up to 40) feature gut optical properties and are relatively easy to design, increasing the channel counts (> 40 channels) leads to a rapid increase in the AWG size and this, in turn causes the deterioration of optical performance like higher insertion loss and, in particular, higher channel crosstalk. Optimizing the design we are able to design 80-channel, 50-GHz AWG with satisfying optical properties.

Simulation of silicon nitride based arrayed waveguide gratings applying three different photonics tools

We present simulation of 8-channel, 100-GHz silicon nitride based AWGs using three different commercial photonics tools, namely PHASAR from Optiwave Systems Inc., APSS from Apollo Photonics Inc. and RSoft from Synopsys Inc. For this purpose we created identical waveguide structures and identical AWG layouts in these tools and performed BPM simulations. For the simulations the same calculation conditions were used. These AWGs were designed for TM-polarized light with an AWG central wavelength of 850 nm. The output of simulations, the transmission characteristics, were used to calculate the transmission parameters defining optical properties of simulated AWGs. The achieved simulated results from all three photonics tools were analyzed and compared with each other.We present simulation of 8-channel, 100-GHz silicon nitride based AWGs using three different commercial photonics tools, namely PHASAR from Optiwave Systems Inc., APSS from Apollo Photonics Inc. and RSoft from Synopsys Inc. For this purpose we created identical waveguide structures and identical AWG layouts in these tools and performed BPM simulations. For the simulations the same calculation conditions were used. These AWGs were designed for TM-polarized light with an AWG central wavelength of 850 nm. The output of simulations, the transmission characteristics, were used to calculate the transmission parameters defining optical properties of simulated AWGs. The achieved simulated results from all three photonics tools were analyzed and compared with each other.

Design of low loss silicon nitride 8-channel AWG

We present design and simulation of the low loss silicon nitride based AWG applying our proprietary AWG-Parameters tool. The AWG was designed for TM-polarized light with a central wavelength of 850...

Optical splitter design for telecommunication access networks with triple-play services

Abstract In this paper, we present various designs of optical splitters for access networks, such as GPON and XG-PON by ITU-T with triple-play services (ie data, voice and video). The presented designs exhibit a step forward, compared to the solutions recommended by the ITU, in terms of performance in transmission systems using WDM. The quality of performance is represented by the bit error rate and the Q-factor. Besides the standard splitter design, we propose a new length-optimized splitter design with a smaller waveguide core, providing some reduction of non-uniformity of the power split between the output waveguides. The achieved splitting parameters are incorporated in the simulations of passive optical networks. For this purpose, the OptSim tool employing Time Domain Split Step method was used.

Design and simulation of 20-channel 50-GHz Si3N4-based arrayed waveguide grating applying AWG-parameters tool

We present the design of 20-channel, 50-GHz Si3N4 based AWG applying our proprietary AWG-Parameters tool. For the simulations of the AWG layout we used PHASAR photonics tool from Optiwave. The simulated transmission characteristics were then evaluated applying our AWG-Analyzer tool. We studied the influence of one of the design parameters – the separation between input/output waveguides, dx on the channel crosstalk. The results show that there is some minimum waveguide separation necessary to keep the crosstalk between transmitting channels low. The AWGs were designed for TM-polarized light with a central wavelength of 850 nm. They will later be used in a photonic integrated circuit dedicated to medical diagnostic imaging applications.