A two-step etching technique for silica terraces in the PLC hybrid integration

Two-step etching, after the full processes of a silica waveguide, was performed to fabricate a silica-terraced planar lightwave circuit platform for the hybrid integration of optoelectronic devices. Spot-size converted distributed feedback laser diodes (SSC DFB LDs) were flip-chip bonded on silica terraces with the height accuracy of less than 1 μm, and the resultant coupling loss between the SSC DFB LD and the silica waveguide was about 3.78 dB. The light-current curve of the LD flip-chip bonded on the platform showed the almost linear increase of the output power without any saturation.