Flattened dispersion in silicon slot waveguides

We propose a silicon strip/slot hybrid waveguide that produces flattened dispersion of 0 ± 16 ps/(nm∙km), over a 553-nm wavelength range, which is 20 times flatter than previous results. Different from previously reported slot waveguides, the strip/slot hybrid waveguide employs the mode transition from a strip mode to a slot mode to introduce unique waveguide dispersion. The flat dispersion profile is featured by three zero-dispersion wavelengths, which is obtained for the first time in on-chip silicon waveguides, to the best of our knowledge. The waveguide exhibits flattened dispersion from 1562-nm to 2115-nm wavelength, which is potentially useful for both telecom and mid-infrared applications.