Polarization splitter based on a three waveguide directional coupler using quantum mechanical analogies

Abstract

We propose a novel waveguide polarization splitter based on the optical analogue of two-photon Rabi oscillations and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in a three waveguide directional coupler. Both these processes are borrowed from three level quantum mechanical atomic systems, in which an intermediate level is used to transfer the population from one state to another without any population occupation in the intermediate level. To show the practical feasibility of the device, simulations have been carried out on waveguides in lithium niobate and we show that two orthogonal polarizations can be separated at the output using the proposed three waveguide structures. We also show that the proposed structure is robust against changes in phase mismatch parameters, as well as wavelength of operation.