A new planar lightwave circuit platform for cost-effective optical hybrid modules

We proposed a new planar lightwave circuit (PLC) platform using a silicon-on-terraced-silicon (STS) structure for hybrid optical modules which reduces the fabrication time by 20%. We used this platform to fabricate an optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmitter/receiver module whose performance is as good as that of a conventional module. The new platform is expected to make such optical hybrid modules cost-effective and applicable to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) systems.