Modeling the Burial Depth of Integrated Single-Mode I/O Structures of MMI-Based Splitters in Thin Glass Sheets

Realizing integrated optical interconnect systems requires optical waveguide components. A promising approach to manufacturing graded-index waveguide components is their embedding in thin glass sheets by ion-exchange processes. In this work, constraints imposed by the multivariate manufacturing process for the realization of single-mode input and output structures in multimode-interference-based (MMI-based) optical splitters are elaborated. Corresponding correlations between these constraints and the modeling of the devices are established with respect to not only the modeling of the manufacturing process but also the practical realization of these components.