SiN-assisted flip-chip adiabatic coupler between SiPh and Glass OPCBs

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a SiN-assisted in-plane adiabatic coupler between SiPh and onboard glass waveguides. Our numerical study is founded on an actual graded index glass waveguide developed by Fraunhofer-IZM. The Silicon taper profile and the optimal length are extracted employing the supermode theory and the adiabatic theorem. Fabrication and assembly issues are investigated, resulting to an optimized coupler design that exhibits a theoretical Si-to-glass loss below 0.1dB over the entire C-band. The proposed solution can be realized utilizing standard passive flip-chip assembly equipment and is, therefore, cost-effective, easy to be fabricated, and well-suited for compact packaging.