Silicon Photonics is a unique platform for optical component integration that will provide high-data rate and cost-effective solutions for data center interconnections of 40 Gbps and beyond. High data rates and low levels of optical losses are key indicators for optical performance. Silicon on Insulator substrates are the preferred choice for silicon photonics as they allow easy manufacturing of uniformly thick waveguides for the fabrication of optical devices such as integrated 4 channel WDM transceivers [1]. Uniformity of the SOI layer is a key parameter to ensure the lowest total circuit optical loss, while a thick buried oxide guarantees a good optical confinement. The effect of typical SOI uniformity has been considered among other parameters as a factor impacting optical device performance by many research groups [2-4].

Using an advanced 300mm CMOS-platform, we report record-low and highly-uniform propagation loss: 0.45±0.12dB/cm for wires, and 2dB/cm for slot waveguides. For WDM devices, we demonstrate channel variation(3-σ) within-wafer and within-device of 6.1nm and 1.2nm respectively.

The recent progress in the fabrication of GeOI substrates and devices is reviewed. Improvements have been made in threading dislocation density, Ge-buried oxide interface passivation, device performance. The potential of various co-integration schemes (lateral and vertical) has been illustrated as alternatives to the fabrication of n-type germanium channel devices. GeOI is also shown to be a versatile platform for the monolithic integration of Si and III-V devices and tunneling field effect transistors.

The Smart CutTM technology has been used for LiTaO3 layer transfer. A 3-inch full wafer single-crystal LiTaO3 layer onto a carrier wafer comprising a metallic electrode is reported.

In the ten past years, the telecommunication industry has experienced an unprecedented growth rate. To follow the exponential Bandwidth demand, new transmission technologies have emerged. Amongst them, we find Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology. Its appearance coinciding with the emergence of key optical functions.This paper addresses one of these key optical functions, today an absolute must: wavelength demultiplexing. This function can be realized thanks to a demultiplexer also named AWG, the acronym for Arrayed Waveguide Gratings. It took only ten years to transform the first research experiments into real commercial products: demultiplexers using a silica on silicon planar platform.This platform allowed yesterday the realization of demultiplexer AWG-products, managing high channels count at a relatively low cost, today this same platform allows the integration of complex optical functions with a more drastic cost reduction. As for tomorrow, transmission systems will continue to require new signal processing functions to permit high bit rate transmission. Once again, the AWG can play a key role.

We present here the design, fabrication, and static as well as dynamic characteristics of a ten-wavelength, 200-GHz channel spacing emitter for wavelength-division multiplexing applications. The source is based on the monolithic integration on InP of a ten distributed Bragg reflector laser array with a square-shaped transmission response PHASAR. The specific design of the PHASAR is detailed. The continuous-wave operation-one channel at a time-demonstrates a high monomode stability with a rejection better than 32 dB for all channels and all injected currents; the 200-GHz channel spacing can be reached with an accuracy better than 25 GHz. High-speed characteristics demonstrate a 6.5-GHz direct modulation bandwidth at -3 dB for a 70-mA current in the 900-/spl mu/m-long active section. The chirp measured for a 2.5-Gb/s modulation with a 10-dB extinction ratio is less than 1.5 /spl Aring/ for every wavelength.

The great potential of optical low-coherence reflectometry (OLCR) to evaluate and diagnose the performances of InP based photonic devices is demonstrated by considering the examples of passive bent guides, monolithically integrated Mach-zehnder wavelength converter and DBR lasers.

We successfully demonstrate a new InP-based double phased-array waveguide (PHASAR) exhibiting a flattened spectral response in use as a WDM wavelength demultiplexer. Bandwidth is 0.94nm at -1dB and 1.8nm at -20 dB. Loss penalty due to channel flattening is only 2.2dB.

The authors successfully demonstrate a new method called a multigrating method, for a flattened spectral response. It uses one-focal-point couplers and several interleaved monomode waveguide gratings. It has a bandwidth of 0.94 nm at -1 db and of 1.8 nm at -20 dB. The loss penalty due to channel flattening is only 2.2 dB.

A 8 x 2nm polarisation independent InP-based demultiplexer operating at similar to 1.54 mu m with a low birefringence wide input waveguide has been produced by incorporating polarisation dispersion compensation into a highly birefringent waveguide. Mode converters were used in each arm of the grating to avoid transition losses. The fibre-waveguide insertion loss is 0.5dB and, misalignment tolerance (at -1dB) is 2.5 mu m. Crosstalk is as low as -30 dB.