Patent ID: 10317620

Abstract:
An interposer chip for coupling light between an array of fibers and an array of optical waveguides on a second photonic chip. The interposer chip has an array of V-grooves for aligning the ends of the fibers to corresponding ends of an array of optical waveguides on the interposer chip. Each optical waveguide has a taper with a first end and a second end, the first end being configured to support an optical mode that couples efficiently to the mode of an optical fiber. The taper reduces the vertical mode size, so that the mode supported by the second end of the taper may be efficiently coupled to a 3-micron thick optical waveguide on the second photonic chip. The interposer chip further has a hard stop having a flat surface parallel to the optical waveguides on the interposer chip, at the interface to the second chip. When the interposer chip is flipped and assembled with the second chip, the hard stop abuts against a mounting surface on the second chip, so that optical waveguides on the interposer chip are aligned, in the vertical direction, with optical waveguides on the second chip.