Planar waveguide integrated spatial filter array

Jun Ai; Fedor Dimov; Richard Lyon; Neven Rakuljic; Chris Griffo; Xiaowei Xia; Engin Arik

doi:10.1117/12.2023138

26 September 2013 Planar waveguide integrated spatial filter array

Jun Ai, Fedor Dimov, Richard Lyon, Neven Rakuljic, Chris Griffo, Xiaowei Xia, Engin Arik

Proceedings Volume 8864, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VI; 88640V (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023138
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2013, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

An innovative integrated spatial filter array (iSFA) was developed for the nulling interferometer for the detection of earth-like planets and life beyond our solar system. The coherent iSFA comprised a 2D planar lightwave circuit (PLC) array coupled with a pair of 2D lenslet arrays in a hexagonal grid to achieve the optimum fill factor and throughput. The silica-on-silicon waveguide mode field diameter and numerical aperture (NA) were designed to match with the Airy disc and NA of the microlens for optimum coupling. The lenslet array was coated with a chromium pinhole array at the focal plane to pass the single-mode waveguide but attenuate the higher modes. We assembled a 32 by 30 array by stacking 32 chips that were produced by photolithography from a 6-in. silicon wafer. Each chip has 30 planar waveguides. The PLC array is inherently polarization-maintaining (PM) and requires much less alignment in contrast to a fiber array, where each PM fiber must be placed individually and oriented correctly. The PLC array offers better scalability than the fiber bundle array for large arrays of over 1,000 waveguides.

Citation Download Citation

Jun Ai, Fedor Dimov, Richard Lyon, Neven Rakuljic, Chris Griffo, Xiaowei Xia, and Engin Arik "Planar waveguide integrated spatial filter array", Proc. SPIE 8864, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets VI, 88640V (26 September 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023138

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