Adv. Opt. Techn.

2015; 4(2): 189–207

Review Article Open Access

Kerstin Wörhoff*, René G. Heideman, Arne Leinse and Marcel Hoekman

TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

Abstract: Photonic applications based on planar wave- 1 Introduction
guide technology impose stringent requirements on prop-
erties such as optical propagation losses, light coupling to
Over the past decades integrated optics solutions for com-
optical fibers, integration density, as well as on reliability
munications and sensing have rapidly developed and
and reproducibility. The latter is correlated to a high level
became increasingly important for the telecommunication
of control of the refractive index and waveguide geometry.
market, space applications, in environmental control, as
In this paper, we review a versatile dielectric waveguide
well as healthcare and life science [1–3].
platform, called TriPleX, which is based on alternat-
In general, the applied photonics technology has
ing silicon nitride and silicon dioxide films. Fabrication
to fulfill requirements such as low optical propagation
with CMOS-compatible equipment based on low-pres-
losses, efficient light coupling to optical fibers, high inte-
sure chemical vapor deposition enables the realization
gration density, low cost, manufacturability, and combin-
of stable material compositions being a prerequisite to
ing excellent performance of passive photonic circuitry
the control of waveguide properties and modal shape.
with access to active functionality for light generation,
The transparency window of both materials allows for
detection, and modulation. However, the quantification of
the realization of low-loss waveguides over a wide wave-
these demands in terms of transmission loss limits, appli-
length range (400 nm–2.35 μm). Propagation losses as low
cable wavelengths ranges, cost price, and manufacturing
as 5 × 10-4 dB/cm are reported. Three basic geometries (box
scale are rather diverse for the different application fields.
shell, double stripe, and filled box) can be distinguished.
For the telecommunication market, the ever-increas-
A specific tapering technology is developed for on-chip,
ing demand for capacity can be fulfilled by the steadily
low-loss ( < 0.1 dB) spotsize convertors, allowing for com-
developing optical fiber networks. Consequently, similar
bining efficient fiber to chip coupling with high-contrast
performance requirements rise for switching and routing
waveguides required for increased functional complex-
functionalities leading to the replacements of electronics
ity as well as for hybrid integration with other photonic
by optical components for signal processing [4–6]. Exam-
platforms such as InP and SOI. The functionality of the
ples of integrated photonic solutions are demonstrated in
TriPleX platform is captured by verified basic building
microwave photonics (MWP) [7, 8], network components
blocks. The corresponding library and associated design
for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) [9, 10], and datacom appli-
kit is available for multi-project wafer (MPW) runs. Several
cations [11–13]. For compatibility with the existing fiber
applications of this platform technology in communica-
backbone, Telecom and FTTH applications require wave-
tions, biomedicine, sensing, as well as a few special fields
length ranges at 1.3–1.55 μm, while for datacom applica-
of photonics are treated in more detail.
tions, the availability of low-cost, high-speed modulating
VCSELs is of importance. Operating wavelengths for the
Keywords: dielectric; low-loss waveguide; microwave
latter application field are either 850 nm (multimode fiber
photonics; spotsize convertor.
links in rack to rack connections) or 1.3 μm (single-mode
fiber connections in large-scale datacenters). Besides per-
DOI 10.1515/aot-2015-0016 formance and reliability, cost per bit of transmitted data
Received January 30, 2015; accepted March 6, 2015 and potential for large-scale manufacturability are key
requirements of this market segment. To date, the break-
through of photonic components is being hampered,
*Corresponding author: Kerstin Wörhoff, LioniX BV, P.O. Box 456,
however, by high cost due to large optical footprint (i.e.,
7500 AL, Enschede, The Netherlands, e-mail: k.worhoff@lionixbv.nl
René G. Heideman, Arne Leinse and Marcel Hoekman: LioniX BV, chip real estate) and costly packaging solutions.
P.O. Box 456, 7500 AL, Enschede, The Netherlands In the field of optical sensing and biomedical applica-
tions, mainly the potential for miniaturization and sensi-
www.degruyter.com/aot tivity improvement compared to state-of-the art systems
©2015, Kerstin Wörhoff et al., published by De Gruyter.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
190 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

adds to the attractiveness of integrated photonic solu- of requirements for all photonic applications. Therefore,
tions [14, 15]. Nowadays, waveguide-based optical sensors the integration of complementary technologies is often
reach the detection limit of 10-7/refractive index unit (RIU) pursued.
[14], which covers most interesting applications. Current At present, three technology platforms are commer-
research focuses on creating sensor arrays and cost price cially available in multi-project wafer (MPW) runs: the
reduction by further miniaturization [16]. Recent progress III-V InP technology, silicon photonics, and the TriPleX
in miniaturization of spectrometers for Raman detection platform. Customers have access to a library contain-
and optical coherence tomography (OCT) [17–19] demon- ing basic building blocks, allowing complex functional
strates the potential of photonics technology for point-of- designs. Several design houses [22, 23] support these plat-
care diagnostics. The requirements and technology needs forms. Fabrication facilities for these platforms are avail-
for these application fields are, however, hard to gener- able: InP [24–27], silicon (Si) photonics [28–30], TriPleX
alize. The applicable wavelengths, for example, cover the [31–33]. The key property performances of these technolo-
spectrum of light ranging from UV-VIS for environmen- gies are summarized in Figure 2.
tal monitoring and absorption spectroscopy, from VIS to As indicated in Figure 2, the InP technology is applied
near-IR for clinical investigation techniques such as Raman in the full range of active functionalities yielding a large
spectroscopy and OCT, up to the mid-IR for gas sensing variety of photonic applications, such as laser (array)s,
and space exploration (wavelength ranges based on (fast) modulators, and detectors. Si-photonics and TriPleX
astronomy division and sensor response division schemes are both silicon based and can, therefore, rely on CMOS-
as addressed in [20] and references therein). Adding active compatible fabrication technology enabling low-cost
functions (light sources, detectors, switches, etc.), micro- volume manufacturing [11]. Silicon photonics has com-
fluidic components, and/or nonreciprocal elements such bined its passive platform with significant progress in
as circulators increases the functional and technological the realization of on-chip detectors and modulators. Most
complexity beyond the integration of passive circuitry. applications can be found in datacom [35]. TriPleX has
Therefore, one of the main challenges remains to be the focused on passive performance (i.e., no on-chip gain
access to cost-efficient (hybrid) assembly and packaging media or high-frequency tuning) with ultralow loss over a
techniques. wide wavelength range including the visible range down
Materials and technologies applied in integrated to near UV. TriPleX is widely applied for microwave pho-
optics research and development vary over a wide range, tonics, sensors, and visible light applications [36, 37].
e.g., doped silica, polymers, silicon-on-insulator, III-V For all three platforms, tight curvature of waveguide
semiconductors, chalcogenides, lithium niobate and bends enabling cascading of multiple structures and
dielectric materials such as Si3N4 or Al2O3. In Figure 1, a reduction of optical footprint is mandatory. Therefore, a
(non-exclusive) overview of known optical materials is large refractive index contrast between waveguide core
given, showing their applicability as function of wave- and cladding is needed. On the other hand, very efficient
length. Although many material systems have been suc- coupling to low-contrast optical fibers has to be accom-
cessfully applied in some of the application fields, none plished implying completely opposite requirements on the
of the technologies is capable to fulfill the complete set index contrast of the channel waveguide. For the TriPleX

Figure 1: Overview on various materials applied in integrated optics and their corresponding transparency ranges [21].
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 191

Figure 2: Qualitative performance comparison of the three commercially available technology platforms [34].

platform, a monolithic spotsize converter technology commercially available basic waveguide geometries,
has been developed. This technology allows for on-chip which can be obtained by modification of individual
modal field size conversion and, therefore, enables highly steps in the generic fabrication flow [42]. The geometries
efficient fiber-to-chip coupling over the full accessible are categorized by their shape: box shell (I), double stripe
wavelength range while maintaining a large flexibility in (II), and filled box (III), whereas type II is subdivided into
waveguide geometry being inherent to the TriPleX pho- the symmetric double stripe (IIa), the asymmetric double
tonic platform. stripe (IIc), and the single stripe (IIb) being a special
In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review on case of IIc. The schematic layouts of the geometries and
the TriPleX photonic waveguide platform. In Section 2, SEM micrographs of realized structures are depicted in
the properties, technological and design aspects will be Figure 3. The generic process flow covering the fabrica-
discussed with emphasis on the different commercialized tion steps of all TriPleX types is given in Figure 4.
TriPleX geometries, integration aspects, fabrication con- While the overall geometrical dimensions of the
cepts, and basic building blocks. Section 3 will focus on waveguide cores of these shapes are typically in the order
the applications and performance of TriPleX-based com- of 1 μm2, their waveguide characteristics and potential
ponents for communications, biomedicine, and sensing application areas differ greatly. Some key characteristics
as well as a few special fields of photonics. are effective index of the waveguide mode Neff and group
index Ng (for TE-polarized light), channel propagation
loss αch [dB/cm], polarization-dependent loss PDL [dB],

2 TriPleX photonic platform minimum bending radius Rb [μm], mode field diam-
eter MFD [μm] (TE00 mode), fiber-chip coupling loss αf-c
[dB/facet], and waveguide birefringence ΔNeff.
2.1 TriPleX technology and design The box shell layout is highly suited for telecom appli-
cations: due to its symmetrical shape, the polarization
TriPleX waveguide technology is based on alternating dependence is largely reduced [43]. The box shell is availa-
well-defined and highly stable silicon oxide (SiO2) and ble in a low [39] and high [44] index contrast variant based
silicon nitride (Si3N4) layers [38, 39]. The CMOS-compat- on different ratios of the Si3N4 and SiO2 thicknesses in the
ible fabrication equipment based on batch processing by core region. In the low contrast version, a 1 × 1-μm2 SiO2
low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) enables core is surrounded by 50-nm-thick Si3N4, while the high
volume production as well as good reproducibility [32, contrast is achieved with SiO2 and Si3N4 core dimensions
40]. TriPleX waveguides are transparent for wavelengths of 0.5 × 0.5 μm2 and 170 nm, respectively. The waveguide
from 0.4 up to 2.35 μm and exhibit very low optical propa- propagation loss of the high-contrast box shell geometry
gation losses. This technology combines good integration is below 0.2 dB/cm and reduces to 0.06 dB/cm for the
potential with high design flexibility allowing for tailor- low-contrast variant [45]. The main difference in the char-
ing of the waveguide properties [41]. We distinguish three acteristics of both versions can be found in the bending
192 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

Figure 3: Schematic layout of the TriPleX geometries and SEM images of realized structures: box shell (I), symmetric double-strip (IIa),
single stripe (IIb), a-symmetric double stripe (IIc), filled box (III).

radius, which is designed to fulfill the 0.01 dB/cm bend wavelength and the group index are 1.535 and 1.72, respec-
loss criterion, and the mode field diameter of the circular tively, while the waveguide birefringence is 5.3 × 10-2. The
mode shape: Rb = 500 μm, MFD = 3.6 μm (low contrast), and waveguide attenuation is ≤ 0.1 dB/cm [46]. The tight
Rb = 150 μm, MFD = 1.4 μm (high contrast). bending radius allows for functional complexity at VLSI
The symmetric double stripe layout is typically level. As shown in Figure 5, waveguide propagation loss
applied in components requiring tight bending radii and as low as 0.095 dB/cm was measured in optical ring res-
large polarization birefringence. The optimized geom- onator (ORR) structures with a bending radius down to
etry is composed of two 170-nm-thick and 1.2-μm-wide 70 μm [46]. The circular mode of this waveguide geom-
Si3N4 layers separated by a 500-nm-thick SiO2 interlayer. etry has a mode field diameter of ∼1.5 μm. To enable low-
The effective index of the waveguide mode at 1.55 μm loss coupling to standard single-mode fibers (SMF28),
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 193

SiO2 interlayer from the 175-nm-thick high-contrast Si3N4

channel [47]. An adiabatic transition is made between
both contrast regions by tapering the thicker layer to
zero. In the high-contrast region, the channel width is
set to 1.5 μm, while the width in the low contrast area is
variable. The high contrast waveguide exhibits an MFD of
1.7 μm and 1.3 μm in the in-plane and out-of-plane direc-
tions, respectively. The waveguide birefringence is in the
order of 5 × 10-2. Demonstrated loss values for the low and
high modal confinement areas on the same chip were
0.015 dB/cm and 0.15 dB/cm, respectively.
The single stripe geometry is applied when extremely
low optical losses are required: as explained, the single
stripe can be converted from the asymmetric double
stripe by locally removing the high-contrast waveguide.
A detailed study on propagation loss and bending radii
as a function of core aspect ratio (width/thickness) of
this low-contrast stripe was carried out over a wide range
of layer thicknesses (20–100 nm) and channel widths
(0.3–14 μm) [48]. While high aspect ratios (channel width
over thickness) are favorable for low propagation losses,
the bending radius decreases at lower aspect ratios. Prop-
agation losses as low as 0.03 dB/cm in a stripe geometry
allowing for 2-mm bending radii were demonstrated upon
light propagation at 1.5 μm wavelength. Analyzing meas-
ured loss values with models taking into account various
loss mechanisms the stripe propagation losses could be
attributed to residual roughness and layer imperfections
originating from the fabrication processes. The waveguide
birefringence of 100-nm-thick Si3N4 waveguides with
channel widths varying from 1.4 to 3.5 μm was investi-
gated [49]. For core widths above 2 μm, the birefringence
exceeds 10-2 and good polarization-maintaining perfor-
mance can, therefore, be expected. TE-pass polarizers
with cross-polarization as low as -75 dB (measurement
limited) have been reported [50].
Figure 4: Generic process flow for the fabrication of the three basic Significant improvement of the loss figure was
TriPleX geometries.
achieved by optimization of the channel fabrication
process and replacement of the upper PECVD SiO2 clad-
both Si3N4 stripes are adiabatically tapered in the verti- ding layer by a bonded thermal SiO2 film [51]. The propaga-
cal direction. The adiabaticity criterion is fulfilled if the tion loss through a single mode waveguide channel with
angle of the MFD change is below 1° (i.e., geometrical 50-nm × 5.3-μm geometrical cross-section was reduced to
taper angle ≤ 0.01°). In case of this TriPleX geometry, this 0.007 dB/cm [52]. Record-low loss of below 0.0005 dB/cm
results in typical taper lengths of 600 μm. At an optimized was measured at 1.58 μm wavelength on 40-nm × 13-μm
thickness of 35 nm for both tapered Si3N4 layers, fiber-chip and 50-nm × 6.5-μm multimode stripe waveguides [51].
coupling losses of < 0.5 dB were demonstrated. The challenge of minimizing the bend radius while
The a-symmetric double-stripe geometry is highly suit- maintaining low propagation losses was addressed by
able for combining regions with low and high effective various approaches. In Figure 6, light propagation through
indices of the mode on a single chip. In a realized example a stripe geometry based on 40-nm-thick and 14-μm-wide
of this geometry type, a 40-nm-thick low-contrast Si3N4 Si3N4 core is demonstrated down to a bending radius of
stripe is separated in the vertical direction by a 100-nm 165 μm. However, in that geometrical range, the channel is
194 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

Figure 5: Waveguide propagation loss as function of ORR bending radius (inset: measurement and fit of ORR frequency responses) [46].

multimode, and an additional tapering section is required trench etching (into the thermal oxide layer) and trench
for adiabatic widening of the channel width [51]. filling (by LPCVD Si3N4 deposition) in combination with
Finally, the filled-box geometry was developed for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) was applied for the
applications requiring ultrahigh confinement of the fabrication of crack-free waveguides (see also Figure 4).
modal field in the core layer. In this geometry, core widths The optical propagation loss of these waveguides at 1.55
of 0.8–1.0 μm and thicknesses varying from 0.8 to 1.2 μm μm wavelength was 0.4 dB/cm [53].
were realized [53]. The waveguide channel is multimodal;
up to three modes exist. For the 1.55-μm wavelength and
TE-polarized light, the corresponding effective index of
2.2 Technology integration aspects
the mode and MFD of the fundamental mode (TE00) are
around 1.79 and 1 μm, respectively. A minimum bending
The high design flexibility provided by the TriPleX plat-
radius of 12.5 μm was calculated for the TE00 mode taking
form is prerequisite to boost photonic integration. The
the 0.01 dB/cm loss criterion into account. As stoichio-
availability of low- and high-contrast regions on a single
metric LPCVD Si3N4 films exhibit high tensile stress, the
chip easily enables interposer functionality in photonic
layer thickness growth is limited to < 500 nm. Therefore,
assemblies. The large freedom in pitch and spotsize con-
version is, for example, utilized in low-loss connections
between optical fiber arrays and high-confinement wave-
guide technologies such as InP or silicon on insulator
(SOI) [54]. In return, active functionality (light generation,
detection, and modulation) available on those platforms
is efficiently joined with the TriPleX circuitry. Various
complementary functionalities such as high-Q resona-
tors, arrayed waveguide gratings, tunable delay lines, and
devices for polarization control available in the ultralow
loss silicon nitride waveguide technology and in silicon
photonics are reviewed [55, 56]. On the SOI side among
others, modules based on hybrid integration with the
III-V InP technology and magneto-optical materials add
to the functionality portfolio. The proposed integration
Figure 6: Red light propagation in a high-aspect ratio spiral-shaped concepts for silicon nitride waveguides with the silicon
waveguide with minimum bending radius of 165 μm [51]. photonic platform are based on a hybrid bonding process
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 195

utilizing an SiO2 interface layer with a controlled thickness controlled by design rather than solely by the process-
[57, 58]. The integration concept and an SEM micrograph specific etch profile [60]. The preliminary results based on
of a fabricated device are shown in Figure 7. insertion loss measurements of waveguides with multiple
Currently, a novel assembly concept for integrating tapering sections indicate a taper loss reduction by about
InP and TriPleX chips on a carrier platform is being devel- one order of magnitude.
oped by a European consortium: PHASTFlex [59]. Besides Last but not the least, the TriPleX platform is also
addressing low-cost, high-volume assembly, the approach well suited for lab-on-a-chip applications. Manufactur-
focuses on bridging the gap between typical flip-chip able concepts (Figure 8) for the integration of microflu-
placement accuracies ( ≤ 1 μm) and the sub-100-nm align- idic systems as well as the assembly of VCSEL arrays and
ment precision required by high-contrast coupling inter- detectors have been developed [42, 61].
faces by monolithically integrated MEMS-based fine
tuning.
On-chip adiabatic tapering sections are key elements 2.3 Technology access
for many integration aspects. Therefore, the optimization
of the taper design and technology was emphasized. Verti- Low-threshold access to the TriPleX platform is, among
cal tapers are usually fabricated by standard lithography others, enabled through MPW services [62]. The MPW
and isotropic etching of the silicon nitride layers. Meas- approach provides a solution for researchers and entre-
urements of propagation losses through such tapering preneurs to prototype their design at affordable cost and
sections resulted in ≤ 0.5 dB/taper [47]. The most critical time levels. The designs of several participants are inte-
part of the tapering path is at the starting position of the grated on a single mask and fabricated in a shuttle run.
taper (thin side), where the propagation of the weakly con- Circuitry simulation and mask design can be carried out
fined mode is extremely sensitive to geometrical changes. by PhoeniX software tools [22]. A prerequisite to the suc-
Therefore, LioniX has developed a novel ultrataper pro- cessful implementation of such an approach is the avail-
cedure, in which the shape of the tapering section can be ability of well-defined and verified design elements.

Fluidic wafer

Optical wafer
A

Figure 8: Concept of optofluidic assembly showing schematic

Figure 7: Concept of TriPleX integration with SOI and III/V: schematic of chip cross-section (A) and top view (B) as well as a picture of a
view (A) and SEM micrograph of integration cross section (B) [57]. component sub-assembly (C) [61].
196 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

Therefore, a library of standard optical components was Light coupling to the toroidal cavities is usually real-
established and implemented as basic building blocks ized through tapered fibers because on-chip integration
(BBBs) in the licensed design kit of the PhoeniX software. of access waveguides is challenging. The integration of
In the past MPW services, components for the box shell high-Q ring resonators in the ultralow-loss TriPleX plat-
geometry were applied, while in currently active MPW form is an attractive approach, as access waveguides,
calls, the double-stripe geometry is offered. The BBB cavities, and directional couplers can be monolithi-
libraries include the following main elements: waveguide cally integrated. In the TriPleX single stripe geometry
straight, bent waveguide, Y-junction, directional coupler, (40 nm × 11 μm), add-drop ring resonators, with a 9.65-mm
spotsize converter, and heater section. This allows for the bending radius and a 3.3-GHz FSR at 1580 nm wavelength,
easy design of integrated functions such as interposers, have been integrated [65, 66]. Several directional coupler
microring resonators (MRRs), several types of interfer- concepts (symmetric, straight, pulley, and tapered) have
ometers (multimode, Michelson, Young, Mach-Zehnder), been implemented to assess and minimize the coupler
arrayed waveguide gratings, multiplexers, frequency, and excess loss. An intrinsic Q-factor of 0.81 × 108 was meas-
modal filters, mode and polarization converters as well ured with a weakly tapered directional coupler design.
as implementation of thermo-optic tuning or sensing Round trip and propagation losses of 0.019 dB and
windows. The library kit for the asymmetric stripe geom- 0.0032 dB/cm were extracted, respectively. Upon further
etry is under preparation. coupler optimization and full exploitation of the low-loss
TriPleX services as well as its combination with other TriPleX platform (i.e., αch < 0.0005 dB/cm) Q-factors as
photonic platforms and technologies are also available high as 6 × 108 are predicted.
through the European initiative ACTPHAST [63], which A range of ring resonators suited for application
has created a unique one-stop-shop European access over a wide wavelength range (1060, 1310 and 1550 nm)
center for photonics innovation solutions and technology was studied in [67]. Based on single-mode TE propaga-
support. tion in two different TriPleX single stripe geometries
(50 nm × 5.3 μm and 80 nm × 2.8 μm with bending radii of
5 and 2 mm, respectively), Q-factors of 19, 28, 7 × 106 were

3 Application fields demonstrated at 1060, 1310, and 1550 nm wavelength,

respectively. Analysis of the filter characteristics resulted
in 16, 38, 300 MHz bandwidths for the 1060, 1310, and
In this section, we will review the performance of TriPleX
1550 nm operations, respectively. The performance, as
photonics technology reported for a wide range of appli-
well as the wide wavelength range, makes these building
cation fields. Several components for communications
blocks attractive for many applications ranging from ultra-
will be addressed first. Then details on state of the art in
narrowband MWP filters to highly sensitive biosensors.
biomedical and sensing applications will be given, fol-
For the integration (de)multiplexing functionality in
lowed by several special areas such as nonlinear optics,
the 1310- and 1550-nm wavelength ranges, 16-channel
light generation, and components for space.
arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) with a 200-GHz channel
spacing were realized in TriPleX single stripe geometry
3.1 Communications (50 nm × 5.5 μm) on a chip footprint of 15 mm × 20 mm
[68]. The component layout is depicted in Figure 9A. For
In many cases, photonic functions used in communication an operation at 1.3 μm wavelength, an FSR of 18.8 nm
applications like true time delay networks, wavelength (2350 GHz), adjacent channel crosstalk of -30 dB and non-
routing, data packet buffering, narrowband filtering, adjacent channel crosstalk of -40 dB were measured. The
timing references, or narrow linewidth light sources are measured performance of the AWG in the 1.5-μm wave-
based on long propagation distances or resonators with lengths range is shown in Figure 9B. Furthermore, the
high-quality factor and require, therefore, extremely low spectral response to a change in temperature (Δλ/ΔT ) was
propagation loss ( < 0.10 dB/cm) [47]. A range of TriPleX- measured to be 1.1 × 10-2 nm/°C. The implementation of
based photonic functions and building blocks applicable AWGs in a 400-Gb/s WDM receiver unit with hybrid inte-
in telecommunication components including integration grated detectors was demonstrated as well [58].
with the III-V or silicon platforms was recently investi- Another highly interesting area in communications
gated by researchers of UCSB [55]. is MWP being an interdisciplinary field investigating the
State-of-the-art quality factors exceeding 4 × 108 have techniques for generation, transmission, processing, and
been demonstrated in silica microtoroids on a chip [64]. analyzing of RF/microwave signals using photonic devices
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 197

performance and seamless beam steering for broadband

A
applications are enabled. For the utilization of OBFNs in
satellite-tracking phased array antenna system operating
in the Ku-band (10.7–12.75 GHz) delay lengths in the order
of tens of centimeter are required. Consequently, low loss
and compact waveguide configurations are essential for
meeting performance and cost requirements. Therefore,
the double stripe TriPleX geometry enabling MRRs with
125 μm radius is chosen.
To date, three different types of optical beam formers
have been implemented with our technology: single wave-
length, multi-wavelength, and multi-beam [74]. A real-
ized chip of a 16 × 1 single wavelength OBFN component
is shown in Figure 10A. On the 7-mm × 22-mm chip area,
a TTD unit with 40 MRRs, splitters/combiners, and an
optical sideband filter are included [33, 76]. Delays of 650
B
ps over a 4.5-GHz bandwidth were measured.
By introducing a novel hardware architecture [75] based
on parallelism, a 16 × 16 multi-wavelength OBFN could be
realized on chip real estate as small as 36 × 8 mm2. Besides

Figure 9: Schematic layout of AWG component (A) and measured

characteristic of 16-channel AWG realized in TriPleX geometry (B) [68].

or subsystems [7]. The properties of photonic compo- A

nents, such as large instantaneous bandwidth, low loss,
small size and weight, immunity from electromagnetic
interference (EMI), as well as easy tunability and recon-
figurability, are leveraged to realize novel RF/microwave
functionalities with unprecedented features [8].
In recent years, a number of RF/microwave function-
alities have been demonstrated using on-chip MWP signal
processing in TriPleX technology. Examples range from
tunable microwave filters, phase shifters, frequency con-
verters, ultra-wideband microwave signal generators to
tunable true time delay (TTD) elements for optical beam-
forming networks (OBFN) [69–73]. A detailed discussion of
the basic building blocks applied in integrated OBFNs can
be found in [33]. B
The optical components are based on optical MRRs.
Tuning and bandwidth reconfiguration in the order of Figure 10: Pictures of 16 × 1 single wavelength OBFN chip [8] (A) and
a few GHz can be easily implemented, and squint-free 16 × 16 multi-wavelength OBFN chip [75] (B).
198 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

delay units and combiners, this chip (Figure 10B) contains

optical phase shifters, carrier tuners, and (de)multiplexers.
A continuously tunable delay of up to 140 ps was measured
over an instantaneous bandwidth from 2 to 10 GHz.
A multi-beam layout based on a Nolen matrix has gone A
through the design phase. For a 255-antenna × 36-beam
Nolen matrix based on tunable Mach-Zehnder coupler
unit cells, a chip size around 90 cm2 is expected. This foot-
print represents a reduction of three orders of magnitude
compared to conventional RF-BFN techniques [74].
A fully packaged optical TTD component for wide
bandwidth signals and an insertion loss of 5.3 dB was
reported by Morton et al. [77, 78]. Delays of 535 ps and
632 ps were measured for 10 and 20 GHz wide signals,
respectively.
Another approach for integrated 4-bit tunable tempo- B
ral delay lines has been demonstrated by switching spi-
ral-shaped waveguides based on the single stripe TriPleX
geometry [79] over a chip area of 4.5 × 8.5 cm2. Delays of
up to 12.35 ns with 0.85 ns resolution were measured. The
insertion loss measured for all 16 states varied from -12 to
-14 dB.
Further developments toward a fully integrated and
low-cost MWP beamformer system exploit the large-scale
integration potential of the TriPleX technology. Simul-
taneous implementation of components operating with
phase modulation and direct detection [80] is reported,
and novel fully tunable RF filters are implemented [81].
C
The various stages of the MPW beamformer system – from
the filter schematic to the fully packaged commercial
product – are depicted in Figure 11A–D.

3.2 Biophotonics

As mentioned Section 1, integrated photonics solutions

become increasingly important for biomedical applica-
tions and started to enter fields like OCT, Raman spec-
troscopy, flow cytometry, etc. TriPleX-based photonics
technology has been applied for a range of novel, minia-
turized biomedical components.
D
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a widely
applied noninvasive medical imaging technique for 3-D Figure 11: Schematic of fully tunable rf filter [81] (A), artist impres-
biological tissue investigation. The technique is based sion of chip layout on circuit board (B), fabricated chip assembly (C),
on low-coherence interferometry from scattering media. and operational commercial product (courtesy SatraX) (D).
Operation in the 800- to 1300-nm wavelength range
enables up to several millimeter penetration depth in An integrated design for swept-source OCT operating
the tissue. Utilization of wide spectral ranges ( > 100 nm) with an external swept source at 1300 nm was developed
result in submicrometer resolution. In spectral domain in cooperation with the AMC in Amsterdam (Figure 12)
OCT, we distinguish two basic data acquisition modes: [82]. The TriPleX chip functionality is designed in single-
swept-source and spectrometer-based OCT. stripe TriPleX geometry (50 nm × 3.4 μm) and has a chip
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 199

Reference arm
SLED Polarization Collimating
Fiber array
controller lens Sample

Power
monitor

X-Y
Galvo scanner
A Spectrometer Integrated interferometer chip
A
Integrated interferometer chip Scan lens

Fiber
array
B

Collimating lens B

Figure 13: Schematic layout of the OCT setup with the integrated
TriPleX-based interferometer chip (A) and photograph of test setup
with fiber array, integrated interferometer chip and scan lens (B) [45].

with Raman spectroscopy, which was realized in one of

C the MPW runs [83]. The optical trap was created by split-
ting the 785-nm optical signal by a 3-dB Y-junction over
Figure 12: Schematic layout of swept-source OCT setup [82] (A), two excitation branches facing toward each other at the
design of TriPleX chip layout (B), and example of handheld compo-
5-μm-wide trapping and excitation region of the fluidic
nent (courtesy 2M) (C).
channel (Figure 14). Chip dimensions were as small as
8 mm × 16 mm. Strong trapping forces as well as measure-
footprint of 4 mm × 18 mm (Figure 12B). Component char-
ments of Raman spectra over integration times as short as
acterization resulted in 21±1 μm lateral resolution, -80 dB
0.25 s were demonstrated.
sensitivity, and a maximum imaging depth of 5.09 mm.
A highly useful component for many biomedical
The axial resolution of 12.7±0.5 μm is in agreement with
and sensing applications is an integrated optical version
the bandwidth-limited resolution.
of a laser beam combiner (LBC). The component devel-
Exploiting the TriPleX box shell geometry, an inte-
oped by XiO Photonics combines the emission from four
grated interferometer chip for spectrometer-based OCT
to eight laser sources in the 400- to 850-nm wavelength
was developed by Ghent University in one of the MPW
range into one single-mode fiber output [37, 84]. On-chip
runs [45]. The design supports both polarizations and
polarization maintaining filtering functions based on
combines several Y-branches with a 190-mm-long refer-
o.a. MRRs in TriPleX technology are applied. The result-
ence arm at a footprint of only 10 mm × 33 mm (Figure 13).
ing fully packaged component, as shown in Figure 15, is
The axial resolution of the system was 14 μm. The sensitiv-
highly compact.
ity measured at 0.25 mm depth and 0.1 mW optical powers
on the sample was 65 dB. Comparison with the response
of a fiber-based system showed good agreement in per- 3.3 Optical sensing
formance. As dispersion control is an important aspect in
wide-range spectral systems, the reduction of group veloc- Integrated optical circuits are increasingly applied for the
ity dispersion is investigated, and its potential implemen- detection of chemical and biological substances [85], as
tation devices based on TriPleX geometry is discussed. they enable high measurement resolution and high sen-
The integration of TriPleX box shell geometry wave- sitivity over a wide dynamic range. Compact integration
guides with microfluidic channels was applied in the of relevant optical functions, such as mode filters and
demonstration of optical particle trapping in combination interferometers, can be realized at a low cost. TriPleX
200 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

Refractive index sensing: The sensor design can be

A either based on MRRs [89, 90] or on a Mach-Zehnder inter-
ferometer (MZI) [87, 91–93] configuration. The state of the
art in MZI-based sensing platforms – being widely applied
by LioniX’ customers – will be subject to future publica-
tion. In this review, we focus on the reported sensor per-
formance based on the MRR approach.
The layout of the MRR component is based on a ring-
shaped resonator waveguide with two directional cou-
plers having a length LCD and a gap g. For the design of the
MRR sensor, the 850-nm wavelength is chosen enabling
the use of low-cost VCSEL light sources. The MRR per-
B
formance is optimized for the 100-nm-thick Si3N4 single
stripe waveguides previously shown to result in highly
sensitive performance in evanescent wave sensing. Based
on a waveguide channel width of 1.0 μm, MRR with radii of
50 and 75 μm are designed. For g = 0.75 μm and LDC varying
from 0 to 250 μm, FSR values ranging from 360 to 880 pm
are feasible [42]. To realize low-loss coupling to the pig-
tailed VCSEL, spotsize conversion is utilized by tapering
the Si3N4 thickness to 25 nm.
The schematic layout of the MRR sensor chip is illus-
trated in Figure 17A. The spotsize conversion area with
reduced waveguide thickness is indicated in green. The
chip contains three MRRs, of which one serves as refer-
Figure 14: Microscope images of TriPleX chip for Raman spectros- ence resonator (top cladding not removed), and two MRRs
copy on trapped particles upon coupling of red light (A) and of the
are equipped with a sensing window (indicated in blue).
trapping region of the device showing the microfluidic channel with
the dual waveguide trap (B) [83].
A microscope image of the fabricated chip is shown in
Figure 17B. The response of a microring with a 50-μm
radius and LDC = 200 μm was measured with a tunable
technology can be applied over the relevant wavelength 850-nm VCSEL (Figure 17C). The measured FRS of 560 pm
range of this application field and provides, moreover, a is in good agreement with the simulation results.
chemically stable detection platform [86]. The lab-on-a-chip application potential of this sensor
Sensing principle: In these optical chips, the chemi- chip was investigated after integration with a microfluidic
cal parameter to be sensed (i.e., the measurand) influ- flow cell. Refractive index measurements in the fluidic
ences the propagation properties of a guided light signal channel resulted in a sensor response of 110±22 nm/RIU
that propagates through an on-chip sensing region. The being an equivalent to a measurement resolution in the
relevant interactions occur primarily in the evanescent order of 10-6 RIU. Label-free biochemical surface reactions
field region just above the interface of the waveguide core have been demonstrated with bovine serum albumin (bSA).
layer, which can be accessed through a sensing window The response curve to bSA concentrations ranging from
in the cover layer (see Figure 16). Generally, selectivity is 1 × 10-7 to 2.2 × 10-4 M is shown in Figure 17D. Based on the
provided by the chemo-optical transduction layer. This theoretical biochemical surface sensitivity shift for bSA, the
layer contains receptor units with selective affinity to detection limit of our sensor was estimated to be smaller
the chemical entities of the measurand. Using identical than 1 pm of an average bSA layer growth. The feasibility of
optical chips and electronics, the concentration of a large gas sensing was shown in a preliminary experiment based
variety of measurands can be determined by applying dif- on the interaction between acetone and a Teflon transduc-
ferent transduction layers, such as antibody proteins as tion film applied in the sensing window. A quick sensor
receptor molecules for immunosensors [87] or silicates response was observed upon the presence of acetone in a
containing functional organic groups for gas sensors [88]. beaker being in the proximity of the sensor device.
We distinguish between refractive index, absorption, and The feasibility of multichannel sensing was assessed
fluorescence sensing. for an eightfold MRR array designed in the asymmetric
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 201

Figure 15: Photograph of Hyperion laser light engine [37]: modular interior with TriPleX LCB chip in blue pig-tailed package (A) and commer-
cial product with software in action (courtesy XiO photonics) (B).

stripe TriPleX geometry with 35 nm and 85 nm lower and Absorption sensing: TriPleX-based chips have been
upper silicon nitride layer thickness, respectively [94]. designed and realized for a range of absorption-based
Challenges with respect to power budget aspects in mul- applications in fluidic environments.
tichannel operations are addressed by a grating-based The development of processes in a microreactor
vertical VCSEL coupling concept in combination with an largely benefits from integrated UV/VIS spectroscopic
optimized 1 × 8 multimode interference (MMI) coupler. detection allowing for real-time analysis under segmented
flow. An optofluidic chip optimized for evanescent field
sensing based on a 65-nm-thick Si3N4 waveguide layer and
Gas/liquid specific absorption window: an operational wavelength range from 488 to 632 nm was
Interaction length (L) developed for the monitoring of gold nanoparticle produc-
Evanescent tail tion [61]. Segmented flow detection at integration times as
low as 2 ms was demonstrated.
Cover nc
Fluorescence sensing: A sensitive and low-cost
Waveguiding film nf detection scheme for molecular biomarkers has been
demonstrated [95, 96] in TriPleX chips of 10 mm × 10 mm.
Bottom cladding nb
One of the applied chip layouts yielding a matrix of 100
sensing wells is depicted in Figure 18. Light of 642-nm
Silicon support
wavelength is coupled from a low-cost diode laser
array into the excitation waveguides of the chip. In
Figure 16: Sensing principle [42]. each sensing well, analyte molecules can be captured.
202 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

Switching/scanning light source

Excitation waveguides

Sensing wells
Collection waveguides A

Figure 18: Schematic chip layout of fluorescence sensor array

containing excitation waveguides, sensing wells, and collection
waveguides (inset part: microscope image of fabricated chip) [96]
(A) and operational commercial product with software (courtesy
iNDX Lifecare Inc.) (B).

applicability for multispecies sensing in complex matrices

such as blood, whole serum, or urine. To the particularly
Figure 17: Schematic layout (A) and microscope picture (B) of MRR- interesting application fields belongs early stage cancer
based sensor chip. Measured MRR response (C) and resonance peak
detection, screening for infectious diseases, or asymp-
shifts upon application of bSA in various concentrations (D) [42].
tomatic individuals testing following a biohazard event.
Moreover, the systems fulfill requirements for point of
Excitation of the analytes is realized in the sensing care applications as they are low-cost, portable, battery
wells, where the excitation light penetrates to a depth operated, and allow for wireless connectivity.
of about 70 nm. Fluorescence emission from analyte For another customer, a multichannel fluorescence-
molecules is back-coupled into the collection wave- based sensing system with a 10 × 10 marker array for life
guide and measured by a detector array. detection on the ExoMars mission was developed [97].
The main advantages of such a microarray-based The pigtailed module operating at 635 nm wavelength was
approach can be found in short acquisition times (typi- realized in LioniX’ optofluidic platform. Between the fiber
cally 5–10 min), very high sensitivity (1 fM or smaller), and input and the assay chamber containing the marker array,
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 203

the optical signal is split by a 1 × 11 MMI. The optical and ratio between the original channel width and the sidewall
fluidic modules are connected by a bonding process and gratings. High grating reflectivity was measured in the
diced to a chip size of 52 mm × 16 mm. 1550-nm wavelength range. On top of the passive Si3N4
platform an erbium (Er3+)-doped aluminum oxide film
with an Er3+ concentration of 1.3 × 1020 cm-3 was integrated
3.4 Special applications by reactive co-sputtering [99]. The laser performance of
several DBR and DFB grating configurations was meas-
Besides the above-discussed conventional application ured applying 974-nm pumping. Pump thresholds, laser
fields, the technology platform has also entered emerging output powers, conversion efficiencies, and side mode
areas of photonics and special applications such as inte- suppressions of 11 mW, 2.1 mW, 5.2%, and 50dB, respec-
grated light sources, nonlinear optic devices, components tively, were achieved.
for space, and quantum computing. Ultra-narrow linewidth laser components have been
The active/passive integration potential of the silicon realized by hybrid integration of III-V laser diodes with a
nitride technology was, for example, demonstrated by TriPleX cavity in a so-called waveguide-based external
the monolithic implementation of optically pumped cavity semiconductor laser (WECSL) configuration [100].
DFB lasers (Figure 19). For this purpose, side wall grat- The design is based on the box shell geometry and exploits
ings with 520-nm period have been etched by stepper the response of two integrated MRRs acting as external
lithography into the 4.6-μm-wide silicon nitride channel mirror and having radii of 50 and 55 μm, respectively. The
waveguides [98]. The grating coupling constant can be layout of the frequency-selective mirror component realized
controlled between 13 and 310 cm-1 by adjusting the aspect in TriPleX technology is shown in Figure 20. A laser diode
equipped with only one mirror is connected to the input
port (IN) of the chip. To monitor the laser and mirror perfor-
mance in greater detail, three output ports (OUT) are added
to the design, whereas OUT3 provides the actual response
of the WECSL. The measured FWHM laser linewidth and
side mode suppression ratio of the WECSL are 25 kHz and
50 dB, respectively. Wavelength tuning over the full tel-
ecommunications C-band (1530–1565 nm) is demonstrated.
For nonlinear optic applications, high modal confine-
ment in the photonic waveguide is of importance. There-
fore, the filled box geometry of the TriPleX platform with
core cross sections of 1.2 μm × 0.8 μm is highly attractive.
In ongoing research, this technology is implemented for
the design and realization of components for supercon-
tinuum generation with over 700 nm spectral bandwidth
[101] and four-wave mixing in the 800–1500 nm wave-
length range [102].
The specific requirements of several applications
for space research can be met by the TriPleX technology.

Figure 19: SEM image of sidewall gratings fabricated in Si3N4

channel waveguide with red arrows indicating the channel-grating Figure 20: Schematic layout of the TriPleX waveguide chip showing
aspect ratio (A) and measured DBR laser output characteristic (B) the splitter, coupler and MRR configuration as well as the heater
[98, 99]. elements [100].
204 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

4 Conclusions
LioniX’ TriPleX technology is a versatile photonics plat-
form suited for applications over a wide wavelength range
covering the transparency window from 0.4 to 2.35 μm.
Ultralow-loss channel waveguides with propagation losses
down to 0.0005 dB/cm have been demonstrated. The mon-
olithic integration of low- and high-contrast waveguides
on the same chip enables the realization of low-loss spot-
size converters. Therefore, TriPleX chips are suitable joints
between different high-index platforms such as III-V or SOI
and standard optical fibers giving access to the ‘outside
world’. Currently, substantial effort is put into the devel-
opment of low-cost integration and assembly techniques
A
for adding complementary functionalities of the different
photonic platforms into a single package.
In this paper, we have reviewed a wide range of appli-
cation examples that have been realized in or enabled by
TriPleX technology. In the area of communications, com-
ponents for telecommunication networks and microwave
photonics operating in the 1.3- and 1.5-μm wavelength
window are discussed. High-performance filtering and
true time delay concepts are surveyed, and components
with high functional complexity for optical beam-form-
ing networks are introduced. Milestones in the develop-
ment of miniaturized biomedical devices can be mainly
found in the field of optical coherence tomography and
integrated Raman spectroscopy. The results addressed in
this paper cover functional devices operating over a broad
spectral range, from VIS to 1.3 μm. Although results in this
field are still preliminary, the potential of integrated optics
solutions becomes clear. Finally, sensor devices and sub-
systems are addressed. Main application fields are envi-
ronmental control, food/water safety, and security. The
B
spectral range of interest is at a visible wavelength and
at 850 nm due to access to low-cost VCSEL light sources.
Figure 21: MRR-based in-flight calibration module for earth-orbiting
satellites; optical chip propagation inspection with VIS light (A) and State-of-the-art sensing concepts developed on the TriPleX
module assembly (B) [21]. platform allow for detection limits around 10-7 RIU.
The functionality of the TriPleX platform is captured
In general, components for space missions need to be by verified basic building blocks and incorporated in the
highly compact, robust, lightweight, and low on power library of a design kit developed by LioniX and PhoeniX
consumption. One example of a realized module for Software. The availability of this library in combination
the ExoMars mission was discussed in the fluorescence with affordable manufacturing through MPW shuttle runs
sensing section of this paper. Another application is lowers the threshold for researchers and entrepreneurs to
addressed by the development of spectroscopic tech- enter and exploit photonics technology.
niques on earth-orbiting satellites where an in-flight cali-
bration module for the 2.3- to 2.4-μm wavelength range Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank
was designed with thermally tunable MRR building R. Duer (iNDX Lifecare Inc.), C. Roeloffzen (SatraX BV),
blocks based on the asymmetric stripe geometry [21, 103]. and J. van Kerkhof (XiO Photonics BV) for providing pho-
The packaged module (Figure 21) has an insertion loss as tographs of their commercial products based on TriPleX
low as 2.4 dB. chip technology. Co-workers of the following research
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 205

groups and companies are acknowledged for the fruitful [21] M. Hoekman, J. Dingjan, P. J. Harmsma, R. P. Ebeling,
discussions and collaborations: Department of Electri- D. M. R. Lo Cascio, et al., Poster in ‘ESA Round Table on Micro
and Nano Technologies’ (2014).
cal and Computer Engineering at the University of Cali-
[22] http://www.phoenixbv.com/index.php.
fornia Santa Barbara, Politecnico di Milano, SatraX BV, [23] http://www.vlcphotonics.com/mpw/.
Telecommunication Engineering Group at the University [24] http://www.oclaro.com/technology/photonic-integration/.
of Twente, Morton Photonics Inc., Photonics Research [25] www.jeppix.eu, http://paradigm.jeppix.eu/.
Group at Ghent University, Biomedical Engineering and [26] http://www.hhi.fraunhofer.de/fields-of-competence/photonic-
components.html.
Physics Group at Amsterdam Medical Center, Department
[27] http://www.smartphotonics.nl/.
of Imaging Physics at Delft University of Technology, TNO, [28] http://www.epixfab.eu/, http://www.europractice-ic.com/.
iNDX Lifecare Inc., Division of Information Transmission [29] http://www-leti.cea.fr/en.
Systems and Material Technology at National Technical [30] http://www.a-star.edu.sg/ime/.
University of Athens, XiO Photonics BV, Laser Physics and [31] http://www.lionixbv.nl/technology/technology-integrated-
Nonlinear Optics Group at the University of Twente, Phoe- optics.html.
[32] R. G. Heideman, A. Leinse, W. Hoving, R. Dekker,
niX BV.
D. H. Geuzebroek, et al., in ‘Proc. SPIE Vol. 7221’, (2009)
pp. 72210R1.
[33] C. G. H. Roeloffzen, L. Zhuang, C. Taddei, A. Leinse,

References R. G. Heideman, et al., Opt. Express 21, 22937 (2013).

[34] L. Augustin, M. Smit, N. Grote, M. Wale and R. Visser,
Europhotonics article ID 54836 (2013), http://www.photonics.
[1] W. Sohler and R. De La Rue, Eds., Laser Photonics Rev. 6, com/Article.aspx?AID=54836.
Special Issue on Integrated Optics: From Single Photon [35] http://www.mellanox.com/page/white_papers_silicon_
Sources to Complex Photonic Circuits, (2012) pp. 1–143. http:// photonics.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lpor.v6.1/issuetoc. [36] A. Leinse, R. G. Heideman, M. Hoekman, F. Schreuder, F.
[2] W. Fritzsche and J. Popp, Eds., ‘Optical Nano- and Microsystems Falke, et al., in ‘Proc. SPIE Vol. 8767’, (SPIE, May 22, 2013)
for Bioanalytics’, (Springer, Heidelberg, 2012) pp. 103–324. pp. 87670E-1.
[3] http://www.photonics21.org/AboutPhotonics21/workgroups. [37] R. Dekker, E. J. Klein and D. H. Geuzebroek, in ‘Proc. IEEE
php. Photonics Conf.’, (IEEE, Burlingame, CA, 23–27 Sept. 2012)
[4] B. E. Little, S. T. Chu, W. Pan and Y. Kokubun, IEEE Photonic pp. 286–287.
Tech. L. 12, 323 (2000). [38] R. G. Heideman and J. A. Walker, in ‘Proc. SPIE Vol. 6125’,
[5] C. K. Madsen, J. Lightwave Technol. 21, 2412 (2003). (SPIE, Photonics West, San Jose, 2006) paper 021.
[6] http://www.infinera.com/pdfs/whitepapers/Photonic_ [39] F. Morichetti, A. Melloni, M. Martinelli, R. G. Heideman,
Integrated_Circuits.pdf. A. Leinse, et al., J. Lightwave Technol. 25, 2579 (2007).
[7] J. Capmany and D. Novak, Nat. Photonics 1, 319 (2007). [40] R. G. Heideman, D. Geuzebroek, A. Leinse, A. Melloni,
[8] D. Marpaung, C. Roeloffzen, R. Heideman, A. Leinse, S. Sales, F. Morichetti, et al., in ‘Proc. ECIO’, (Copenhagen, April 25–27,
et al., Laser Photonics Rev. 7, 506 (2013). 2007) invited paper WB0.
[9] K. Okamoto, in ‘Proc. Asia Optical Fiber Communication Conf.’, [41] W. Hoving, D. Geuzebroek and R. Heideman, SPIE Newsroom 2008.
(IEEE, Shanghai, October 17–19, 2007) pp. 307–309. http://www.spie.org/x25303.xml?pf=true&highlight=x2414.
[10] K. Wada, S. Park and Y. Ishikawa, Proc. IEEE 97, 1329 (2009). [42] R. G. Heideman, M. Hoekman and E. Schreuder, IEEE J. Sel. Top.
[11] M. Asghari, in ‘Proc. National Fiber Optic Engineers Conf.’, Quant. 18, 1583 (2012).
(IEEE, San Diego, February 24–28, 2008), paper NThA4. [43] R. G. Heideman, A. Melloni, M. Hoekman, A. Borreman,
[12] L. Chen, K. Preston, S. Manipatruni and M. Lipson, Opt. A. Leinse, et al., in ‘Proc. IEEE/LEOS Benelux Ann. Symp.’,
Express 17, 15248 (2009). (IEEE, Mons, December 1–2, 2005), pp. 71–74.
[13] J. Klamkin, F. Gambini, S. Faralli, A. Malacarne, G. Meloni, [44] D. A. I. Marpaung, C. G. H. Roeloffzen, A. Leinse and
et al., Opt. Express 22, 2150 (2014). M. Hoekman, Opt. Express 18, 27359 (2010).
[14] V. M. N. Passaro, C. de Tullio, B. Troia, M. La Notte, [45] G. Yurtsever, B. Považay, A. Alex, B. Zabihian, W. Drexler, et al.,
G. Giannoccaro, et al., Sensors 12, 15558 (2012). Biomedical Opt. Express 5, 1050 (2014).
[15] P. Kozma, F. Kehl, E. Ehrentreich-Förster, Ch. Stamm and [46] L. Zhuang, D. Marpaung, M. Burla, W. Beeker, A. Leinse, et al.,
F. F. Bier, Biosens. Bioelectron. 58, 287 (2014). Opt. Express 19, 23162 (2011).
[16] S. Janz, D. X. Xu, M. Vachon, N. Sabourin, P. Cheben, et al., Opt. [47] D. T. Spencer, M. J. R. Heck, R. Moreira, J. Bovington,
Express 21, 4623 (2013). J. E. Bowers, et al., in ‘Proc. OFC’, (OSA, San Francisco, March
[17] N. Ismail, L.-P. Choo-Smith, K. Wörhoff, A. Driessen, 9–14, 2014) paper Th1A.
A. C. Baclig, et al., Opt. Lett. 36, 4629 (2011). [48] J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck, D. John, D. Dai, M. C. Tien, et al.,
[18] V. D. Nguyen, B. I. Akca, K. Wörhoff, R. M. de Ridder, Opt. Express 19, 3163 (2011).
M. Pollnau, et al., Opt. Lett. 36, 1293 (2011). [49] D. Dai, Z. Wang, J. F. Bauters, M. C. Tien, M. Heck, et al. Bowers,
[19] G. Yurtsever, N. Weiss, J. Kalkman, T. G. van Leeuwen and in ‘Proc. GFP’, (IEEE, Bejing, September 1–3, 2010) , P2.13.
R. Baets, Opt. Lett. 39, 5228 (2014). [50] J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck, D. Dai, J. S. Barton, D. J. Blumenthal,
[20] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared. et al., IEEE Photonics J. 5, 6600207 (2013).
206 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform

[51] J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck, D. D. John, J. S. Barton, [78] P. A. Morton, J. B. Khurgin, Z. Mizrahi and S. J. Morton, in
C. M. Bruinink, et al., Opt. Express 19, 24090 (2011). ‘Proc. Avionics, Fiber-Optics and Photonics Technology Conf.’,
[52] J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck, D. D. John, M.-C. Tien, W. Li, et al., (IEEE, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2014), pp. 27–28.
in ‘Proc. ECOC’, (OSA, Geneva, September 18–22, 2011) paper [79] R. L. Moreira, J. Garcia, W. Li, J. Bauters, J. S. Barton, et al.,
Th12.3. IEEE Phot. Tech. L. 25, 1165 (2013).
[53] J. P. Epping, M. Hoekman, R. Mateman, A. Leinse, [80] L. Zhuang, M. Hoekman, C. Taddei, A. Leinse, R. G. Heideman,
R. G. Heideman, et al., Opt. Express 23, 643 (2015). et al., Opt. Express 22, 17079 (2014).
[54] M. J. Wale, Roadmap for InP and TriPleX-based Photonic [81] C. Taddei, L. Zhuang, M. Hoekman, C. Roeloffzen, R.
Integration, presented at 5th European Photonic Integration Oldenbeuving, et al., in ‘Proc. International Topical meeting
Forum, ECOC Workshop: Low-Cost Access to Photonic ICs on Microwave Photonics/The 9th Asia-Pacific Microwave
(­London, 22nd September 2013). Photonics Conf.’, (IEEE, Sapporo, Japan, 20–23 October 2014)
[55] M. J. R. Heck, J. F. Bauters, M. L. Davenport, D. T. Spencer and paper TuC-4.
J. E. Bowers, Laser Photonics Rev. 8, 667 (2014). [82] V. D. Nguyen, N. Weiss, W. Beeker, M. Hoekman, A. Leinse,
[56] D. Dai, J. Bauters and J. E. Bowers, Light Sci. Appl. 1, 1 (2012). et al., Opt. Lett. 37, 4820 (2012).
[57] M. Piels, J. F. Bauters, M. L. Davenport, M. J. R. Heck and [83] M. Boerkamp, T. van Leest, J. Heldens, A. Leinse,
J. E. Bowers, J. Lightwave Technol. 32, 817 (2014). M. Hoekman, et al., Opt. Express 22, 30528 (2014).
[58] M. Davenport, J. Bauters, M. Piels, A. Chen, A. Fang, et al., [84] http://www.xiophotonics.com/index.php/hyperion-inte-
in ‘Proc. NFOEC’, (OSA, Anaheim, March 17–21, 2013) paper grated-multi-color-laser-source.
PDP2C.5. [85] P. V. Lambeck, Meas. Sci. Technol. 17, R93 (2006).
[59] EU FP7 project PHASTFlex (http://www.phastflex.eu/). [86] E. Verdult, NanoNextNL magazine 1, 16 (2013), http://www.
[60] R. G. Heideman and M. Hoekman, Two-dimensional tapered cou- nanonextnl.nl/.
pler (nonlinear taper), U.S. Patent Application No.: 14/270,014. [87] R. G. Heideman, R. P. H. Kooyman and J. Greve, Sensor Actuat
[61] J. Yue, F. H. Falke, J. C. Schouten and T. A. Nijhuis, Lab Chip 13, B-Chem 10, 209 (1993).
4855 (2013). [88] A. Brandenburg, R. Edelhäuser and F. Hutter, Sensor Actuat
[62] http://www.lionixbv.nl/triplexmpw.html. B-Chem 11, 361 (1993).
[63] http://www.actphast.eu/. [89] K. De Vos, I. Bartolozzi, E. Schacht, P. Bienstman and
[64] T. J. Kippenberg, S. M. Spillane and K. J. Vahala, Appl. Phys. R. Baets, Opt. Express 15, 7610 (2007).
Lett. 85, 6113 (2004). [90] D. X. Xu, A. Densmore, A. Delâge, P. Waldron, R. McKinnon,
[65] D. T. Spencer, Y. Tang, J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck and et al., Opt. Express 16, 15137 (2008).
J. E. Bowers, in ‘Proc. IEEE Photonics Conf.’, (IEEE, Burlingame, [91] K. Misiakos, I. Raptis, A. Salapatas, E. Makarona,
2012) pp. 141–142. A. Botsialas, et al., Opt. Express 22, 8856 (2014).
[66] D. T. Spencer, J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck and J. E. Bowers, [92] B. J. Luff, J. S. Wilkinson, J. Piehler, U. Hollenbach, J. Ingenhoff
Optica 1, 153 (2014). et al., J. Lightwave Technol. 16, 583 (1998).
[67] M. C. Tien, J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck, D. T. Spencer, [93] A. Densmore, D. X. Xu, P. Waldron, S. Janz, P. Cheben, et al.,
D. J. Blumenthal, et al., Opt. Express 19, 13551 (2011). IEEE Phot. Tech. L. 18, 2520 (2006).
[68] D. Dai, Z. Wang, J. F. Bauters, M. C. Tien, M. J. R. Heck, et al., [94] L. Gounaridis, P. Groumas, E. Schreuder, R. Heideman,
Opt. Express 19, 14130 (2011). V. Katopodis, et al., Sensor Actuat. B-Chem., 209, 1057
[69] L. Zhuang, W. P. Beeker, A. Leinse, R. G. Heideman and (2015).
C. G. H. Roeloffzen, Opt. Express 21, 3114 (2013). [95] iNDx lifecare (http://indxlifecare.com/).
[70] L. Zhuang, M. R. Khan, W. P. Beeker, A. Leinse, R. G. Heideman, [96] R. Duer, R. Lund, R. Tanaka, D. A. Christensen and
et al., Opt. Express 20, 26499 (2012). J. N. Herron, Anal. Chem. 82, 8856 (2010).
[71] M. Burla, D. A. I. Marpaung, L. Zhuang, C. G. H. Roeloffzen, [97] A. Prak, H. Leeuwis, R. G. Heideman, A. Leinse and G. Borst, in
M. R. Khan, et al., Opt. Express 19, 21476 (2011). ‘Proc. SPIE Vol. 7928’, (SPIE, San Francisco, January 22, 2011)
[72] D. A. I. Marpaung, L. Chevalier, M. Burla and paper L-1.
C. G. H. Roeloffzen, Opt. Express 19, 24839 (2011). [98] M. Belt, J. Bovington, R. Moreira, J. F. Bauters, M. J. R. Heck,
[73] D. Marpaung, B. Morrison, R. Pant, C. Roeloffzen, A. Leinse, et al., Opt. Express 21, 1181 (2013).
et al., Opt. Express 21, 23286 (2013). [99] M. Belt and D.J. Blumenthal, Opt. Express 22, 10655 (2014).
[74] C. G. H. Roeloffzen, R. M. Oldenbeuving, R. B. Timens, [100] R. M. Oldenbeuving, E. J. Klein, H. L. Offerhaus, C. J. Lee,
P. W. L. van Dijk, C. Taddei, et al., in ‘Proc. Optical Fiber Com- H. Song, et al., Phys. Lett. 10, 015804 (2013).
munication Conf.’, (OSA, Los Angeles, March 22–26, 2015), [101] J. P. Epping, T. Hellwig, R. Mateman, A. van Rees,
invited paper Tu3F.4. M. Hoekman, et al., in ‘Proc. Of 6th EPS-QEOD Europhoton
[75] M. Burla, D. Marpaung, L. Zhuang, M. Khan, A. Leinse, et al., Conf.’, (OSA, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, August 24–29, 2014).
J. Lightwave Technol. 32, 3509 (2014). [102] J. P. Epping, M. Kues, P. J. M. van der Slot, C. J. Lee, C. Fallnich,
[76] L. Zhuang, C. G. H. Roeloffzen, A. Meijerink, M. Burla, et al., Opt. Express 21, 32123 (2013).
D. A. I. Marpaung, et al., J. Lightwave Technol. 28, 19 (2010). [103] R. P. Ebeling, P. J. Harmsma, D. M. R. Lo Cascio, M. Hoekman,
[77] P. A. Morton, J. B. Khurgin, Z. Mizrahi and S. J. Morton, in ‘Proc. W. P. Beeker, et al., in ‘Proc. IEEE/LEOS Benelux Ann. Symp.’,
CLEO’, (OSA, San Jose, June 8–13, 2014) paper AW3P.6. (IEEE, Mons, November 29–30, 2012) pp. 109–112.
 K. Wörhoff et al.: TriPleX: a versatile dielectric photonic platform 207

Kerstin Wörhoff Arne Leinse

LioniX BV, Enschede, P.O. Box 456, 7500 AL, LioniX BV, Enschede, P.O. Box 456, 7500 AL,
The Netherlands, The Netherlands
k.worhoff@lionixbv.nl

Kerstin Wörhoff received a MSc degree in Electrical Engineering and

a PhD degree in Applied Physics in 1991 and 1996, respectively. Arne Leinse (Project-/account manager & Vice President) received a
Between 1996 and 2000 she worked as a Postdoctoral researcher MSc degree from the University of Twente in the Integrated Optical
at the Lightwave Devices group of the University of Twente with Microsystems group in 2001. In this same group he started his
research focus on photonics technology development for telecom PhD work on the topic of active micro-ring resonators for various
applications. In 2000 she obtained an assistant professor position optical applications. His PhD work was carried out in the frame-
in Integrated Optics at the University of Twente and was involved work of a European project (IST 2000-28018 “Next generation
in various European as well as national research projects. Her Active Integrated optic Sub-systems”) and his thesis was titled:
expertise includes development and optimization of photonics tech- “Polymeric micro-ring resonator based electro-optic modulator”.
nologies for a wide range of active and passive integrated optical In 2005 he joined LioniX BV where he is now as a project-/account
functionalities, optical waveguide design as well as project manage- manager involved in several integrated optical projects, member of
ment and teaching in Materials Science and Technology. In 2013 she the management team and involved in the strategic roadmap of the
joined LioniX BV as a project manager and design engineer. technology and LioniX.

René Heideman Marcel Hoekman

LioniX BV, Enschede, P.O. Box 456, 7500 AL, LioniX BV, Enschede, P.O. Box 456, 7500 AL,
The Netherlands The Netherlands

René Heideman received the MSc and PhD degrees in Applied

Physics from the University of Twente (Enschede, The Netherlands) Marcel Hoekman was born in Zutphen, The Netherlands, in 1974.
in August 1988 and January 1993, respectively. He is an expert in He received the MSc degree in Applied Physics and the MTD degree
the field of MST, based on more than 25 years of experience. He has in Integrated Optics from the University of Twente, Enschede, The
specialized in Integrated Optics (IO), covering both (bio-) chemi- Netherlands, in 1998 and 2001, respectively. From 1998 to 2001
cal sensing and telecom applications. He is (co)author of more he worked on his post graduate design program in the Integrated
than 200 papers and holds more than 20 patents in the IO-field, Optical MicroSystems Group at the University of Twente. He worked
on more than 10 different subjects. Since 2001, he is co-founder on the design of an integrated optical/electro-optical modula-
and CTO of LioniX BV. Since 2008, he is CTO of Panthera, a group of tor based on PZT containing multi-layer stacks. In this project he
high-tech innovative companies focusing on creating new business collaborated with the group Experimental Solid State Physics III of
based on micro/nano-technology. He is member of several Dutch Radboud University Nijmegen. From 2004 until 2009 he has been a
steering committees, IEEE BioPhotonics and the board of stakehold- part-time PhD student at the Integrated Optical MicroSystems Group
ers of Photonics21. He is also Board member of MinacNed (Dutch of the University of Twente, in the framework of the STW project
association for micro-systems and nanotechnology). Since 2012, “Multi-Sensing Arrays of Separately Accessible Optics Sensors”.
René Heideman is a (visiting) professor Nanotechnology of Saxion In 2001 he joined Lion Photonix Technologies B.V., Enschede, The
University of Applied Sciences. Netherlands - which has continued as LioniX B.V. since 2002 - as a
design engineer. Besides simulation and mask design he has expe-
rience in several cleanroom manufacturing processes and charac-
terization methods, and he has worked as internal project leader on
several national and European projects.