Small-area bends and beamsplitters for low-index-contrast waveguides

Keywords

components, guided waves, integrated optics, integrated optics devices, photonic integrated circuits

Abstract

We explore the use of air trenches to achieve compact high efficiency 90° waveguide bends and beamsplitters for waveguide material systems that have low refractive index and low refractive index contrast between the core and clad materials. For a single air interface, simulation results show that the optical efficiency of a waveguide bend can be increased from 78.4% to 99.2% by simply decreasing the bend angle from 90° to 60°. This can be explained by the angular spectrum of the waveguide mode optical field. For 90° bends we use a micro-genetic algorithm (μGA) with a 2-D finite difference time domain (FDTD) method to rigorously design high efficiency waveguide bends composed of multiple air trenches. Simulation results show an optical efficiency of 97.2% for an optimized bend composed of three air trenches. Similarly, a single air trench can be designed to function as a 90° beamsplitter with 98.5% total efficiency.

Original Publication Citation

L. Li, G. P. Nordin, J. M. English, and J. Jiang, "Small-area bends and beamsplitters for low-index-contrast waveguides", Opt. Express 11(3), 282-29 (23). http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-11-3-282

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2003-02-10

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/572

Publisher

Optical Society of America

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

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