5X9 INTEGRATED OPTICAL STAR COUPLER IN SILICON-ON-INSULATOR TECHNOLOGY

We describe fabrication of the first optical star coupler in silicon-o n-insulator (SOI) technology. The 5 x 9 coupler consists of two silico n rib waveguide arrays with a radiative slab waveguide region, The sta r geometry was analyzed and designed using the beam propagation method , The coupler exhibits low loss (average excess insertion loss alpha s imilar to 1.3 dB) and good coupling uniformity (standard deviation sig ma similar to 1.4 dB) at lambda = 1.55 mu m. It represents a key compo nent for realization of photonic circuits in a silicon integrated circ uit technology.