Low-Loss Silicon Photonic 16 × 16 Cyclic AWGR Based on SOI Platform

We experimentally demonstrate a low-loss and low-crosstalk 16-channel 200 GHz-channel-spacing arrayed waveguide grating router (AWGR) with a size of 0.67 × 0.37 mm
²
, targeting for C-band wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) interconnect routing applications. As a result, the AWGR features a channel spacing of 200±10 GHz, a free spectral range of 25.62 nm and a 3 dB channel bandwidth of 0.9 nm. Based on comprehensive optimal design, the measured characterization revealed 5.55 dB maximum channel loss non-uniformity with 1.13 dB best-case channel insertion loss. Besides, the fabricated device exhibits good cyclic-frequency operation for all 16 × 16 port combinations with channel crosstalk of –15.11 dB.