High-efficiency reflector-less dual-level silicon photonic grating coupler

We present the design and experimentally demonstrate a dual-level grating coupler with subdecibel efficiency for a 220 nm thick silicon photonics waveguide which was fabricated starting from a 340 nm silicon-on-insulator wafer. The proposed device consists of two grating levels designed with two different linear apodizations, with opposite chirping signs, and whose period is varied for each scattering unit. A coupling efficiency of −0.8 dB at 1550 nm is experimentally demonstrated, which represents the highest efficiency ever reported in the telecommunications C-band in a single-layer silicon grating structure without the use of any backreflector or index-matching material between the fiber and the grating.