Fiber array to chip attach using laser fusion splicing for low loss

Abstract

With the ever-increasing need for higher data rates, datacom and telecom industries are now migrating to silicon photonics to achieve higher data rates with reduced manufacturing costs. However, the optical packaging of integrated photonic devices with multiple I/O ports remains a slow and expensive process. We introduce an optical packaging technique to attach fiber arrays to a photonic chip in a single shot using CO₂ laser fusion splicing. We show a minimum coupling loss of 1.1 dB, 1.5 dB, and 1.4 dB per-facet for 2, 4, and 8-fiber arrays (respectively) fused to the oxide mode converters using a single shot from the CO₂ laser.