Multimode silicon photonic waveguide corner-bend.

Abstract

An ultra-sharp multimode waveguide bend (MWB) based on a multimode waveguide corner-bend (MWCB) is proposed and realized. With the present MWCB, total internal reflection (TIR) happens and the light propagation direction of all the mode-channels can be modified with low excess losses (ELs) and low inter-mode crosstalk (CT) in the optical communication bands from 1260 nm to 1680 nm. For the MWCB designed for the TE0 and TE1 modes, the ELs are less than 0.18 dB and the inter-mode CTs are less than -36 dB in the wavelength range of 1260-1680 nm. The measurement results show the fabricated MWCB works very well as predicted by the theory. It is very flexible to extend the present MWCB for more mode-channels by simply adjusting the core width. For example, the MWCB designed with a 35 µm-wide core has an EL less than 0.54 dB and inter-mode CT less than -24 dB for the ten TE-polarization modes (i.e., TE0∼TE9) in the wavelength-band of 1260-1680 nm. For the present MWCB, the fabrication is also very convenient because no tiny nano-structure and no additional fabrication steps are needed. It also shows that the present MWCB is not sensitive to the sidewall angles even when the angle is up to 8°. The proposed MWCB is promising for multimode silicon photonics because of the simple structure, easy design, easy fabrication as well as excellent performances in an ultra-broad wavelength-band.