Design and analysis of large-core multitrench channel waveguide for high-power applications.

Abstract

We present a multitrench leaky channel waveguide design that supports effective single-mode operation even with large-core size. The proposed waveguide structure has a uniform rectangular core and a geometrically shaped trench-assisted cladding in such a way that all the confined modes become leaky. The effective single-mode operation is achieved by choosing the appropriate geometrical parameters that introduce very large leakage losses for higher-order modes with very low leakage losses for fundamental mode. A power law profile for cladding geometry is considered to explore the effect of trenches on the effective single-mode operation. The finite element method is used to calculate the leakage losses of the modes. Our numerical results show that the waveguide ensures extended single-mode operation in the wavelength range of 1.25-2.0 μm with the rectangular core area as large as 100 μm2. Such a large-core-area waveguide structure efficiently suppresses unwanted nonlinear optical effects. A proposed channel waveguide structure with a large core size is suitable for high-power delivery devices such as high-power waveguide lasers and amplifiers.