Modeling and validation of high-performance and athermal AWGs for the silicon photonics platform

Array waveguide gratings (AWGs) are a key component in WDM systems, allowing for de-multiplexing and routing of wavelength channels. A high-resolution AWG able to satisfy challenging requirements in terms of insertion loss and X-talk is what is needed to contribute to the paradigm change in the deployment of optical communication that is nowadays occurring within the ROADM architectures. In order to improve the performances and keep down the footprint, we modified the design at the star coupler (SC) and at the bending stages. We evaluated how the background noise is modified within a whiskered-shaped SC optimized to reduce the reflectivity of the SOI slab and keep down back-scattered optical signal. A dedicated heating circuit has also been designed, in order to allow for an overall tuning of the channel-output. A high-performance AWG has also to cope with possible thermal-induced environmental changes, especially in the case of integration within a PIC. Therefore, we suggested a way to reduce the thermal-sensitivity.