Dual-mode broadband compact 2 × 2 optical power splitter using sub-wavelength metamaterial structures

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Integrated Optics
• Nanophotonics

Background:

• Multimode power splitters are essential for mode-division multiplexing (MDM) systems.
• Conventional designs often lack compactness and broadband performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and characterize a compact, broadband dual-mode optical power splitter.
• To leverage subwavelength grating (SWG) structures for enhanced performance.

Main Methods:

• Design of a dual-mode multimode interferometer (MMI) optical power splitter.
• Integration of subwavelength grating (SWG) structures.
• Experimental characterization of the fabricated device.

Main Results:

• Achieved a device three times more compact than conventional MMIs.
• Demonstrated a flat response with low loss (<0.1 dB for TE0, <0.65 dB for TE1) and low crosstalk (<-17 dB) over a 100 nm bandwidth.
• Validated performance through experimental characterization.

Conclusions:

• The proposed SWG-based dual-mode MMI power splitter is a highly compact and efficient component for MDM systems.
• The design offers significant improvements in size, bandwidth, and performance metrics.
• This advancement facilitates the development of more sophisticated optical communication networks.