On-chip actuation for waveguide alignment

Recent decades have seen impressive developments in the field of integrated photonics. Chips with complex photonic functionality can presently be designed and fabricated. Photonic packages consist of one or more PICs, as well as other (micro-optical) components, and a fibre (array) to establish the external optical interface. A core challenge is the assembly and packaging of these complex devices, involving sub-μm alignment of components. To overcome the limitations in multi-chip photonic packaging, a concept is proposed which uses on-chip actuators for the fine-alignment of flexible waveguide structures.