Optical waveguides – Integrated optical circuit
Patent
1993-12-20
1995-07-18
Lee, John D.
Optical waveguides
Integrated optical circuit
385 39, 385129, G02B 612
Patent
active
054349354
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to integrated optical circuits. More specifically, the present invention relates to an integrated optical circuit having one or more waveguides arranged on a substrate and separated therefrom by a highly conductive layer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Integrated optical circuits comprise a substrate on which the optical structures are applied or into which the optical structures are inserted. The possibility of being able to produce optical waveguides of low attenuation is, in particular, of decisive importance here. Starting from the basic structure of a waveguide, various assemblies such as, for instance, couplers, interferometers, frequency filters and the like can be produced.
For the production of waveguides which can conduct electromagnetic waves, the propagation of the field is to be limited to a direction which is predetermined in each case by the waveguide. For this purpose, the "insulating" of the field to be conducted from the outer environment is necessary.
In optical communications, dielectric insulation means, in particular, are employed. In the so-called core region of a waveguide, there is a material which has a higher index of refraction than the material surrounding the core, i.e. the so-called wall region. As a result, the guided electromagnetic field decreases substantially exponentially, without dissipation of energy in the direction towards the wall so that such a small field strength is present at the wall boundary that the attenuation of the field which takes place there is, as a practical matter, unimportant. This type of wave guidance is frequently used not only in glass fibers but also in integrated optical waveguides.
In connection with integrated optical waveguides, a wave guidance by height profiles is furthermore known in which the dispersion is limited by lateral narrowing of the core zone. Finally, for use in active optical components there is also known for wave guidance the recovery guidance method in which a region having a higher amplification than the surrounding of the wall is produced in the core region of the waveguide.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to improve the possibility of manufacturing integrated optical circuits, and, in particular, to indicate means for the guiding and/or controlling of the field of waves which can be produced by process steps which are carried out on the substrate.
The integrated optical circuit of the present invention has the advantage that a material, the technical working of which is readily controlled, can be used for the substrate. Since the optical field is kept away from the substrate in the waveguide structures to be produced, materials which can be readily worked can be selected, without regard to their optical properties.
The layer of lower index of refraction provided in the integrated optical circuit of the present invention can be applied by known methods in view of its slight thickness. Furthermore, coupling with outdoor electric components in the substrate is advantageously possible with the integrated optical circuit of the present invention.
In the known technologies for the production of integrated optical circuits, optically transparent layers which are structured and worked in accordance with the intended function of the component are applied to the substrate. This structuring, however, is effected in a material which is selected because of its optical properties and not because of its workability. In the integrated optical circuit of the present invention, however, the structuring can take place substantially in the substrate, so that a structuring of the overlying layers is in part unnecessary. Structuring of the optical layer is, however, not ruled out with the integrated optical circuit of the present invention.
In further embodiments of the present invention, openings are provided in the layer of high conductivity for optically coupling to opto-electronic elements arranged in the substrate, or for controlling the wave guida
REFERENCES:
patent: 4070516 (1978-01-01), Kaiser
patent: 4966430 (1990-10-01), Weidel
patent: 5123078 (1992-06-01), Thomas
patent: 5237434 (1993-08-01), Feldman et al.
patent: 5313535 (1994-05-01), Williams
Lee John D.
Robert & Bosch GmbH
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