Device Characterization

To characterize the devices, a custom-built automated test setup \cite{photonics}with automated control software written in Python was used \cite{caverley}.  An Agilent 81600B tunable laser was used as the input source and Agilent 81635A optical power sensors as the output detectors. The wavelength was swept from 1500 to 1600 nm in 10 pm steps.  A polarization maintaining (PM) fibre was used to maintain the polarization state of the light, to couple the TE polarization into the grating couplers \cite{chrostowski2014}.  A 90º rotation was used to inject light into the TM grating couplers \cite{chrostowski2014}.  A polarization maintaining fibre array was used to couple light in/out of the chip \cite{usa}.

Acknowledgments:

I acknowledge the edX UBCx Phot1x Silicon Photonics Design, Fabrication and Data Analysis course, which is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Silicon Electronic-Photonic Integrated Circuits (SiEPIC) Program. The devices were fabricated by Richard Bojko at the University of Washington Washington Nanofabrication Facility, part of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), and Cameron Horvath at Applied Nanotools, Inc. Hossam Shoman performed the measurements at The University of British Columbia. We acknowledge Lumerical Solutions, Inc., Mathworks, Mentor Graphics, Python, and KLayout for the design software.