For future atom–photonic devices, the incoupling method is expected to become the main bottleneck in the scaling of the number of devices, as current devices use side-coupling, which is restricted to the sample edges. This paper describes how light from above is coupled directly from free space into a freestanding membrane of 220 nm thin silicon nitrite ($ {\text{Si}_3}{\text{N}_4} $) with surface grating couplers. The design for these couplers is modeled, captured in an elegant design formula, and experimentally tested. A coupling efficiency of 12% makes experimental coupling to an array of atom–photonic devices possible. The elegant design formula makes grating design straightforward for all-dielectric materials and wavelengths. For this formula, determination of the correct effective index of the specific waveguide mode inside the grating layer is essential.

中文翻译：

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非接触表面光栅耦合用于原子-光子器件阵列

对于未来的原子-光子器件，由于当前器件使用的是侧面耦合（仅限于样品边缘），因此，耦合方法有望成为缩放器件数量的主要瓶颈。本文描述了来自上方的光如何直接从自由空间耦合到220 nm薄亚硝酸硅（$ {\ text {Si} _3} {\ text {N} _4} $）和表面光栅耦合器。这些耦合器的设计已建模，以优雅的设计公式捕获并经过了实验测试。12％的耦合效率使实验耦合到原子光子器件阵列成为可能。优雅的设计公式使光栅设计可直接用于全介电材料和波长。对于该公式，必须确定光栅层内部特定波导模式的正确有效折射率。