Single polarization transmission in pedestal-supported silicon waveguides

In this Letter, properties of a pedestal-supported silicon waveguide are investigated, showing that it supports single polarization transmission. The pedestal is fabricated easily through a wet-etching process on strip waveguides. Theoretical analysis shows that this property is due to the leakage of quasi-TM mode when the pedestal width is small. A polarization extinction ratio larger than 20 dB at 1550 nm is measured in the pedestal waveguide sample, demonstrating single polarization transmission property experimentally. Thanks to its large single polarization transmission bandwidth, robustness in fabrication tolerance, and simple fabrication process, pedestal waveguides will have potential applications as simple silicon-integrated polarizers.