Calculation of the efficiency of optical radiation input of DFB and VCSEL lasers into a glass integrated optical waveguide
Abstract
Calculation of the efficiency of optical radiation input of DFB and VCSEL lasers into a glass integrated optical waveguide
Incoming article date: 22.06.2018The efficiency of optical radiation input of semiconductor lasers of various types into an integrated optical ion-exchange buried waveguide in glass was calculated using optical circuits based on spherical, hemi-cylindrical and hemispherical lenses. Calculations were made by using the method of ray tracing. The single-mode waveguide, used in calculations, is the glass (type K-8) waveguide, made by ion exchange with subsequent burying. The results of the calculations indicate a low efficiency of optical radiation input when using single lenses. The use of a pair of microlenses (collimating and focusing) makes it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of optical coupling, which is 79% for a VCSEL laser. Efficiency of input is limited by a sufficient low aperture of the glass waveguide itself - 0.12. For more precise simulations the race tracing method with wave correction was used. The wavelength of optical radiation for calculations is 1.3 micrometer. The use of a single spherical and cylindrical lens has the advantage for it’s simplicity, but will lead to a serious loss of power in the optical system and, correspondingly, an increase of signal attenuation. This is partly due to reason that when using a single cylindrical or spherical lenses, according to the geometry of the calculations, the optical radiation will not be focused at one point, and essential aberrations take place. Efficiency of coupling with the help of two lenses is limited at first, by numerical apertures mismatch and, at second, partial energy transfer to the rings of Airy disk. The ion-exchange waveguide is suitable for coupling with VCSEL lasers for application in planar waveguide concentrators, etc.
Keywords: integrated optics, optical waveguides, ion exchange in glass, VCSEL laser, ray tracing method, ZEMAX