Open AccessVersatile Wideband Polarization-Insensitive Mode Converter Based on Wedge-Shaped Waveguide
Author(s) -
Yu Li,
Minghua Chen,
Hongchen Yu,
Hongwei Chen,
Sigang Yang,
Shizhong Xie
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ieee photonics journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1943-0655
pISSN - 1943-0647
DOI - 10.1109/jphot.2016.2550320
Subject(s) - engineered materials, dielectrics and plasmas , photonics and electrooptics
We propose and demonstrate a versatile, low-loss, polarization-insensitive, and wideband mode converter that can be utilized for mode conversion as a basic component in various photonic integrated circuits. The proposed converter is comprised of two reverse wedge-shaped waveguides and can be easily fabricated by a standard fabrication process. To verify its good performance and universality, we present two applications, including power coupling between a laser diode and a waveguide on the TriPleX platform and mode conversion between a strip waveguide and a slot waveguide on a silicon-on-insulator platform. For both examples, the insertion loss is less than -0.12 dB and -0.5 dB at around 1550 nm for the transverse electric (TE) mode and the transverse magnetic (TM) mode, respectively, by numerically study. Moreover, it maintains very low loss across a wavelength range of 300 nm for both polarization modes.