Frontiers in Physics (May 2021)

10 nm SiO2 TM Slot Mode in Laterally Mismatched Asymmetric Fin-Waveguides

  • James Byers,
  • Kapil Debnath,
  • Hideo Arimoto,
  • Muhammad K. Husain,
  • Moïse Sotto,
  • Joseph Hillier,
  • Kian Kiang,
  • David J. Thomson,
  • Graham T. Reed,
  • Martin Charlton,
  • Shinichi Saito

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2021.659585
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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In this paper we demonstrate that by breaking the left/right symmetry in a bi-planar double-silicon on insulator (SOI) photonic crystal (PhC) fin-waveguide, we can couple the conventionally used transverse-electric (TE) polarized mode to the transverse-magnetic (TM) polarization slot-mode. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations indicate that the TE mode couples to the robust TM mode inside the Brillouin zone. Broadband transmission data shows propagation identified with horizontal-slot TM mode within the TE bandgap for fully mismatched fabricated devices. This simultaneously demonstrates TE to TM mode conversion, and the narrowest Si photonics SiO2 slot-mode propagation reported in the literature (10 nm wide slot), which both have many potential telecommunication applications.

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