The Luna Quarterly

Integrated photonics is an enabling technology and has dramatically changed the way we look at system integration. Simplifying and condensing complex optical systems, components, and functions onto a single silicon photonic chip is now a reality, bringing many advantages over standard discrete system integration such as a reduction in size, weight, manufacturing cost, and power consumption, yet with improved reliability. However, because of their small size, the amount of information to be collected, and the stringent power and polarization coupling requirements, fast and full characterization at the early stages (die or wafer level) is a challenging step of the product development cycle.

Luna Innovations teamed up with Maple Leaf Photonics to address these challenges at OFC 2022. The new Maple Leaf Photonics SD120 probe station automatically aligns fibers to the waveguide in seconds. With 80 ms measurement speed, the advanced Lightwave Component Analyzer (Luna 6415) from Luna Innovations collects both the distributed loss information along the waveguide (when used in reflection mode) and/or the spectral information (when used in transmission mode) rapidly.

Fotonica software automates fiber alignment to multiple waveguides and performs test routines consistently and accurately. In less than 2 minutes, all loss and spectral information can be measured and recorded on x20 waveguides, accelerating testing, and improving throughputs. The setup is modular and can be customized to address different and unique test needs.