Compact, high-performance, and fabrication friendly two-mode division multiplexer based on a silicon bent directional coupler
In response to the increasing demands of the capacity enhancement of optical communication, a compact and high-performance silicon mode division multiplexer is proposed that multiplexes the fundamental and first-order transverse magnetic modes. The device structure is based on an asymmetric bent dir...
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Published in | Applied optics. Optical technology and biomedical optics Vol. 59; no. 12; p. 3645 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
20.04.2020
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Online Access | Get more information |
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Summary: | In response to the increasing demands of the capacity enhancement of optical communication, a compact and high-performance silicon mode division multiplexer is proposed that multiplexes the fundamental and first-order transverse magnetic modes. The device structure is based on an asymmetric bent directional coupler with an ultrasmall coupling length of 3.67 µm. Utilizing single-layer silicon waveguides with the same heights allows the proposed device to be fabricated using a single-step CMOS-compatible fabrication process, which provides a cost-effective design in comparison with the previously reported structures. The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation results confirm that the device has a low loss of 0.87 dB, low crosstalk of ${-}{21.8}\;{\rm dB}$-21.8dB, and high mode conversion efficiency of 98.3% at the communication wavelength of 1.55 µm. Furthermore, the device shows a broad bandwidth of about 110 nm, completely covering the C and L bands with crosstalk less than ${-}{10}\;{\rm dB}$-10dB. Moreover, it is shown that the proposed mode (de)multiplexer is fabrication tolerant for the coupling gap variation of ${-}{40}\;{\rm nm} \lt \Delta {g} \lt {23}\;{\rm nm}$-40nm<Δg<23nm and the waveguide width variation of ${-}{25}\;{\rm nm} \lt \Delta {W} \lt {25}\;{\rm nm}$-25nm<ΔW<25nm for a low loss of ${ \lt }- {1.67}\;{\rm dB}$<-1.67dB and low crosstalk of ${ \lt }- {10}\;{\rm dB}$<-10dB. |
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ISSN: | 2155-3165 |
DOI: | 10.1364/AO.385585 |