A novel photonic integrated optical divider based on cascaded multimode interference (MMI) couplers achieving a splitting ratio of 1:10e-9

L. Gounaridis; J. Gran; E. Katsaouni; C. Zervos; A. Raptakis; E. Kyriazi; G. Brestas; A. M. Grammatikaki; D. Geuzebroek; H. Avramopoulos; C. Kouloumentas

doi:10.1117/12.3002772

12 March 2024 A novel photonic integrated optical divider based on cascaded multimode interference (MMI) couplers, achieving a splitting ratio of 1:10^-9

L. Gounaridis, J. Gran, E. Katsaouni, C. Zervos, A. Raptakis, E. Kyriazi, G. Brestas, A. M. Grammatikaki, D. Geuzebroek, H. Avramopoulos, C. Kouloumentas

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12889, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVIII; 128890Z (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3002772
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2024, San Francisco, California, United States

Conference Poster

Abstract

Single photon counting detectors are extremely important in the evolution of quantum technologies. The existing devices for the low-flux measurements are bulky and their implementation cannot be made with small footprints. Integrated photonics aims to allow the miniaturization of these setups. We present simulation results for the design of a single 1x10 multimode interference coupler (MMI) in terms of the power imbalance between the output waveguides, optical losses, and tolerance on the operating wavelength. This component acts as the fundamental building block of a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) in the TriPleX platform, acting as an optical divider that is able to bring down the power to ratio levels of 1:10^-5. The central operating wavelength is 850 nm. This PIC is based on five cascaded 1x10 multimode interference couples (MMIs) in a novel function for bringing the power to an exceptionally low, and consistent level with repeatable and reproducible results. The fabricated photonic chips have been characterized in lab settings. The two best-performed PICs have been packaged and incorporated in a laboratory setup with embedded reference standards for optical power measurement in a technique referred to as "self-calibration". They were tested in system settings, where they successfully demonstrated that we have achieved a linear splitting ratio of 1:10^-9 by cascading nine splitters.

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

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L. Gounaridis, J. Gran, E. Katsaouni, C. Zervos, A. Raptakis, E. Kyriazi, G. Brestas, A. M. Grammatikaki, D. Geuzebroek, H. Avramopoulos, and C. Kouloumentas "A novel photonic integrated optical divider based on cascaded multimode interference (MMI) couplers, achieving a splitting ratio of 1:10^-9", Proc. SPIE 12889, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVIII, 128890Z (12 March 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3002772

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