Broadband multifunctional plasmonic polarization converter based on multimode interference coupler

Abstract

We propose a multifunctional integrated plasmonic–photonic polarization converter for polarization demultiplexing in an indium-phosphide membrane on silicon platform. By using a compact 1 × 4 multimode interference coupler, this device can provide simultaneous half-wave plate (HWP) and quarter-wave plate (QWP) functionalities. Our device employs a two-section HWP to obtain a very large conversion efficiency of ≥ 91% over the entire C to U telecom bands, while it offers a conversion efficiency of ≥ 95% over ∼ 86% of the C to U bands. Our device also illustrates QWP functionality, where the transmission contrast between the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes is ≈ 0 dB over the whole C band and 55% of the C to U bands. Using this functionality, our device generates two quasi-circular polarized beams with opposite spins and topological charges of l=±1, based on only one input polarization, and one incoming light beam direction. We expect that this device can be a promising building block for the realization of ultracompact on-chip polarization demultiplexing and lab-on-a-chip biosensing platforms. Finally, our proposed device allows the use of the polarization and angular momentum degrees of freedom, which makes it attractive for quantum information processing.