TY - JOUR
T1 - Mode-evolution-based polarization rotation and coupling between silicon and hybrid plasmonic waveguides
AU - Kim, Sangsik
AU - Qi, Minghao
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is supported in part by National Science Foundation grant CMMI-1120577, Defense Threat Reduction Agency grants HDTRA110-1-0106 and HDTRA1-07-C-0042, National Institute of Health grant 1R01RR026273-01, Air Force Office of Scientific Research grant FA9550-12-1-0236, and DARPA PULSE program grant W31P40-13-1-0018 from AMRDEC.
PY - 2015/12/18
Y1 - 2015/12/18
N2 - Hybrid plasmonic (HP) modes allow strong optical field confinement and simultaneously low propagation loss, offering a potentially compact and efficient platform for on-chip photonic applications. However, their implementation is hampered by the low coupling efficiency between dielectric guided modes and HP modes, caused by mode mismatch and polarization difference. In this work, we present a mode-evolution-based polarization rotation and coupling structure that adiabatically rotates the TE mode in a silicon waveguide and couples it to the HP mode in a strip silicon-dielectric-metal waveguide. Simulation shows that high coupling factors of 92%, 78%, 75%, and 73% are achievable using Ag, Au, Al, and Cu as the metal cap, respectively, at a conversion length of about 5 μm. For an extremely broad wavelength range of 1300-1800 nm, the coupling factor is >64% with a Ag metal cap, and the total back-reflection power, including all the mode reflections and backscattering, is below â ∼'40 dB, due to the adiabatic mode transition. Our device does not require high-resolution lithography and is tolerant to fabrication variations and imperfections. These attributes together make our device suitable for optical transport systems spanning all telecommunication bands.
AB - Hybrid plasmonic (HP) modes allow strong optical field confinement and simultaneously low propagation loss, offering a potentially compact and efficient platform for on-chip photonic applications. However, their implementation is hampered by the low coupling efficiency between dielectric guided modes and HP modes, caused by mode mismatch and polarization difference. In this work, we present a mode-evolution-based polarization rotation and coupling structure that adiabatically rotates the TE mode in a silicon waveguide and couples it to the HP mode in a strip silicon-dielectric-metal waveguide. Simulation shows that high coupling factors of 92%, 78%, 75%, and 73% are achievable using Ag, Au, Al, and Cu as the metal cap, respectively, at a conversion length of about 5 μm. For an extremely broad wavelength range of 1300-1800 nm, the coupling factor is >64% with a Ag metal cap, and the total back-reflection power, including all the mode reflections and backscattering, is below â ∼'40 dB, due to the adiabatic mode transition. Our device does not require high-resolution lithography and is tolerant to fabrication variations and imperfections. These attributes together make our device suitable for optical transport systems spanning all telecommunication bands.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84950327074&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/srep18378
DO - 10.1038/srep18378
M3 - Article
C2 - 26680655
AN - SCOPUS:84950327074
VL - 5
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
M1 - 18378
ER -