A plasmonic based ultracompact polarization beam splitter on silicon-on-insulator waveguides

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Nanophotonics
• Integrated Optics
• Plasmonics

Background:

• Polarization beam splitters (PBS) are crucial components in photonic integrated circuits.
• Existing PBS designs often face limitations in size, bandwidth, or performance.
• Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platforms offer advantages for miniaturization and integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and simulate an ultracompact polarization beam splitter (PBS) on an SOI platform.
• To leverage localized surface plasmons (LSPs) for efficient polarization selection.
• To achieve broadband operation with high extinction ratios and low insertion losses.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing nanoscale silver cylinders as the core element for polarization selection.
• Designing a directional coupler structure on an SOI platform.
• Simulating the device performance for transverse-magnetic (TM) and transverse-electric (TE) polarizations.

Main Results:

• Achieved high extinction ratios of 22.06 dB for TE and 23.06 dB for TM polarization.
• Demonstrated low insertion losses of 0.09 dB for TE and 0.40 dB for TM polarization.
• The PBS exhibits broadband operation due to its 50 nm width and 1.1 μm length coupling layer.

Conclusions:

• The proposed ultracompact PBS based on LSPs is highly effective for integrated photonic applications.
• The device offers excellent performance metrics, including high extinction ratios and low insertion losses.
• This design represents a significant advancement in miniaturized polarization control for photonic circuits.