Efficient coupling of a laser to a waveguide using a taper designed by conformal mapping

Maximizing the optical power collected in a waveguide from the diffracting field of a semiconductor laser is desirable in optical fibre communication systems. However, the spot size and phase front curvature of the laser field usually makes a poor overlap with the mode of the receiving waveguide. Various proposals have been made to improve this coupling. This paper presents the design of a tapered waveguide section, having the correct geometry and refractive index profile, to efficiently capture and transform the rapidly diffracting light from a semiconductor laser to a planar wavefront in a straight waveguide. Experimentally, such an approach requires the refining of available techniques (UV exposure, ion implantation or diffusion) to obtain the required grading of the refractive index profile within the tapered input section of the receiving waveguide.