A 5-channel polymer/silica hybrid arrayed waveguide grating (AWG), fabricated through a simple and low-cost microfabrication process is proposed, which covers the entire O-band (1260-1360 nm) of the optical communication wavelength system. According to the simulation results, the insertion loss is lower than 4.7 dB and the crosstalk within 3-dB bandwidth is lower than ~-28 dB. The actual fiber-fiber insertion loss is lower than 14.0 dB, and the crosstalk of the 5 channels is less than -13.0 dB. The demonstrated AWG is ideally suitable for optical communications, but also has potential in the multi-channel sensors.
Keywords: integrated optics; optical communication systems; planar lightwave circuit; polymer optical waveguides.