Compact symmetric polarization rotator-splitter on InP.

Abstract

Symmetric polarization rotator-splitter (PRS) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated on InP for the first time. Instead of integrating a mode-selective splitter, we employ a symmetric multimode-interference (MMI) splitter at the output of an adiabatic taper section to extract the linear superpositions of the transverse-electric (TE) and the transverse-magnetic (TM) components of the input signal. As a result, the entire device functions as a PRS with its basis on the S2-S3 plane of the Poincaré sphere, whereas we can fully eliminate complicated asymmetric structures that are challenging to fabricate on InP. Moreover, the adiabatic taper, which operates as a mode-evolution-based polarization converter, is designed judiciously to minimize the overall length. The designed InP PRS with a total length of 750 µm is fabricated by a simple single-etching process. A polarization extinction ratio of more than 16.3 dB and a polarization-dependent loss of 0.67 dB are demonstrated experimentally at a 1550-nm wavelength.