Dimension Dependent Effective Index Analysis for a Nano-scale Silicon Waveguide in Transverse Mode

Abstract

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate the effect of effective index on silicon waveguide dimensions by using MODE solution. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of effective index which is influenced by waveguide width variations and waveguide height variations. The effect of effective index variations is presented by fixing the core height at 200nm and varying the core width from 300nm to 600nm and by fixing the core width at 500nm and varying core height from 150nm to 300nm for Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) MODE. With the simulation results, the thickness of the core width and core height are used for the determination of fundamental or higher order mode design. It is seen that higher effective index can be achieved as the core width and core height increases. The determination of fundamental or higher order mode design can be achieved by analyzing the graphs of effective indices for TE0, TM0, TE1 and TM1 modes at varied core height and width. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that fundamental order can only be achieved when the silicon core width is kept at a value of approximately 500nm and core height is kept at a value of less than 250nm. At a higher order mode, excess noise and losses can be introduced.