Small Footprint and High Extinction Ratio Cladding-Modulated Bragg Grating Structure as a Wideband Bandstop Filter

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive numerical investigation of silicon Bragg grating (BG) waveguide structures with cladding modulation. The device design features a uniform silicon ridge waveguide with corrugated cladding on both sides. Two distinct architectures are explored: one where silicon serves as the cladding and another where gold (Au) is employed. Our detailed analysis uncovers compelling results for both configurations. The silicon corrugated cladding BG waveguide demonstrates a bandstop bandwidth of ~50 nm, accompanied by an extinction ratio (ER) of 7.98 dB. The device footprint is compact, measuring approximately 16.4 × 3 µm2. In contrast, the Au corrugated cladding BG waveguide exhibits exceptional performance, boasting a wideband bandstop bandwidth of ~143 nm and an impressive ER of 19.96 dB. Despite this enhanced functionality, the device maintains a reasonably small footprint at around 16.9 × 3 µm2. This investigation underscores the potential of Au corrugated cladding BG waveguides as ideal candidates for achieving high-spectral-characteristic bandstop filters. The significant improvement in bandstop bandwidth and ER makes them promising for advanced optical filtering applications.