Techniques to prevent underfill interference in photonic fiber couplers

Abstract

Described herein are robust fiber-connection structures for photonic integrated circuits (PICs). These fiber connection structures enable efficient optical coupling between integrated waveguides defined near an edge of a PIC and corresponding optical fibers, thereby facilitating reliable edge coupling. The fiber-connection designs developed by the inventor improve upon conventional approaches by minimizing damage associated with die-sawing processes, reducing surface roughness and preventing underfill intrusion into the edge coupling region.

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