Y Kawakita, T Kihara, K Miki, K Shimomura
INTEGRATED OPTICS: DEVICES, MATERIALS, AND TECHNOLOGIES VI, 4640 289-297, 2002 Peer-reviewed
We have proposed the optical deflector using arrayed waveguides that have different refractive index fabricated by MOVPE selective area growth. By placing the asymmetric width of SiO2 mask pattern on both sides of the arrayed waveguide, the thickness of the each waveguide in the array has changed gradually. And the phase change in each arrayed waveguide results the deflection of the light. In this device, we have numerically calculated and fabricated the 1xN multi-mode interference (MMI) star coupler using GaInAs/InP MQW structure to input the light equally for each arrayed waveguide. From the numerical calculation, we obtain 0.42dB fluctuation of the output light power in each waveguide in the 1 x 16 MMI waveguide. In the experiment, we fabricated the 1 x 16 MMI waveguide using GaInAs/InP MQW structure, and 0.88dB fluctuation of the output light was obtained for the 1.56mum wavelength input light.
And further, we have numerically calculated the wavelength demultiplexing and switching performance in this device. We have obtained the wavelength dependence of output power in 8 arrayed waveguides that have 1.0% refractive index difference in both sides of the arrayed waveguide. From this analysis, we can exchange the output ports of each wavelength by controlling the refractive index in the arrayed waveguide.