High efficiency and broad bandwidth grating coupler between nanophotonic waveguide and fibre

A high efficiency and broad bandwidth grating coupler between a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) nanophotonic waveguide and fibre is designed and fabricated. Coupling efficiencies of 46{\%} and 25{\%} at a wavelength of 1.55~$\mu $m are achieved by simulation and experiment, respectively. An optical 3~dB bandwidth of 45~nm from 1530~nm to 1575~nm is also obtained in experiment. Numerical calculation shows that a tolerance to fabrication error of 10~nm in etch depth is achievable. The measurement results indicate that the alignment error of $\pm $2~$\mu $m results in less than 1~dB additional coupling loss.