LOW-LOSS NEAR-INFRARED PASSIVE OPTICAL WAVE-GUIDE COMPONENTS FORMED BY ELECTRON-BEAM IRRADIATION OF SILICA-ON-SILICON

Results are presented for a range of near infrared single-mode passive channel waveguide optical components fabricated in PECVD silica-on-si licon by electron beam irradiation, The devices include S-bends, Mach- Zehnder interferometers, Y-junction tree-structured splitters, and dir ectional couplers. It is shown that low loss may be obtained through a ppropriate choice of waveguide bend radius and fabrication parameters; fiber-device insertion losses of approximate to 2 dB and approximate to 1 dB are achieved for 1x8 splitters and 3-dB directional couplers, respectively, at lambda = 1.525 mu m.