Inventors:
David S. Levy - Seal Beach CA
Robert Scarmozzino - Montrose NY
Assignee:
The Trustees of Columbia University of the City of New York - New York NY
International Classification:
G02B 626
US Classification:
385 15, 385 16, 385 17, 385 39
Abstract:
The Multimode Interference coupler according to the invention has smoothly continuous inwardly tapered sidewalls ( ) which define the width of the multimode region (W ) along the propagation axis of the device. The inward taper causes the average width of the device to be reduced in comparison to known couplers having straight sidewalls ( ). Further, invention allows the access waveguides ( ) to remain sufficiently spaced, while reducing the overall length of the device, to avoid lithographic gap fill-in and unwanted optical coupling between the waveguides.