An ultra-compact polarization-insensitive slot-strip mode converter

doi:10.1007/s12200-022-00008-5

Front. Optoelectron.

2022, Vol. 15

Issue (1) : 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-022-00008-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

An ultra-compact polarization-insensitive slot-strip mode converter

Zihan Tao¹, Bo Wang¹, Bowen Bai¹, Ruixuan Chen¹, Haowen Shu¹, Xuguang Zhang¹, Xingjun Wang^1,^2,^3,⁴(

)

¹. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, School of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
². Frontier Science Center for Nano-Optoelectronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
³. Peking University Yangtze Delta Institute of Optoelectronics, Nantong 226010, China
⁴. Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China

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Abstract

Integrated waveguides with slot structures have attracted increasing attention due to their advantages of tight mode confinement and strong light-matter interaction. Although extensively studied, the issue of mode mismatch with other strip waveguide-based optical devices is a huge challenge that prevents integrated waveguides from being widely utilized in large-scale photonic-based circuits. In this paper, we demonstrate an ultra-compact low-loss slot-strip converter with polarization insensitivity based on the multimode interference (MMI) effect. Sleek sinusoidal profiles are adopted to allow for smooth connection between the slot and strip waveguide, resulting reflection reduction. By manipulating the MMI effect with structure optimization, the self-imaging positions of the TE₀ and TM₀ modes are aligned with minimized footprint, leading to low-loss transmission for both polarizations. The measurement results show that high coupling efficiencies of − 0.40 and − 0.64 dB are achieved for TE₀ and TM₀ polarizations, respectively. The device has dimensions as small as 1.1 μm × 1.2 μm and composed of factory-available structures. The above characteristics of our proposed compact slot-strip converter makes it a promising device for future deployment in multi-functional integrated photonics systems.

Keywords Silicon photonics Slot-strip convertor Multimode interference (MMI) Polarization-insensitive

Corresponding Author(s): Xingjun Wang

Issue Date: 22 April 2022

Cite this article:

Zihan Tao,Bo Wang,Bowen Bai, et al. An ultra-compact polarization-insensitive slot-strip mode converter[J]. Front. Optoelectron., 2022, 15(1): 5.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/10.1007/s12200-022-00008-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/Y2022/V15/I1/5

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