Compact chip-scale filter based on curved waveguide Bragg gratings

We propose a method for miniaturization of filters based on curved waveguide Bragg gratings, so that long structures can be packed into a small area on a chip. This eliminates the stitching errors introduced in the fabrication process, which compromise the performance of long Bragg gratings. Our approach relies on cascading curved waveguide Bragg gratings with the same radius of curvature. An analytical model for the analysis of these devices was developed, and a filter based on this model was designed and fabricated in a silicon on insulator platform. The filter had a total length of 920 mu m, occupied an area of 190 mu m x 114 mu m, and exhibited a stop band of 1.7 nm at 1.55 mu m and an extinction ratio larger than 23 dB. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America