Abstract

Extending the optical communication wavelengths to 2 µm can significantly increase data capacity. Silicon photonics, which is a proven device integration technology, has made rapid progress at 2 µm recently. As a fundamental functional element in the photonic design kit, the 3 dB power splitter has been extensively studied in both the 1.55 µm and 2 µm regime. While the device is highly desirable to operate over both wave bands, the large waveguide dispersion in silicon makes it challenging. In this work, we demonstrate an ultra-broadband power splitter on silicon, which has a 0.2 dB bandwidth exceeding 520 nm from 1500 to 2020 nm according to simulations. The beam splitter is realized by a triple tapered Y-junction, and its operational bandwidth is greatly increased by subwavelength grating structure. The device has an ultra-compact footprint of only ${3}\;\unicode{x00B5}{\rm m} \times {2}\;\unicode{x00B5}{\rm m}$. Due to the limitations on the setup and coupling technique, we measure the device bandwidth in 1.55 µm and 2 µm wave bands. The device insertion loss is measured to be below 0.4 dB from 1500 to 1620 nm and from 1960 to 2020 nm, respectively. According to these results, the proposed device is believed to be capable of operating over a broadband from 1.55 µm and 2 µm wavelengths.

© 2021 Optical Society of America

Ultra-broadband 1 × 2 3 dB power splitter using a thin-film lithium niobate from 1.2 to 2 µm wave band

Qiyuan Yi, An Pan, Jinsong Xia, Cheng Zeng, and Li Shen
Opt. Lett. 48(20) 5375-5378 (2023)

Ultra-compact polarization-independent 3 dB power splitter in silicon

Aoxue Zhang, Lipeng Xia, Ting Li, Chang Chang, Peiji Zhou, Xiaochuan Xu, and Yi Zou
Opt. Lett. 46(19) 5000-5003 (2021)

Design of an ultra-broadband and low-loss 3 dB power splitter from the 1.25 to 2.04 µm wave band

Yanru Zhou, Chengyu Yin, Wenyao Liu, Enbo Xing, Jun Tang, and Jun Liu
Appl. Opt. 61(32) 9449-9454 (2022)

Silicon MMI-based power splitter for multi-band operation at the 1.55 and 2 µm wave bands

Qiyuan Yi, Guanglian Cheng, Zhiwei Yan, Qiyuan Li, Fanglu Xu, Yongchao Zou, Ting Li, Yuhan Sun, Yi Zou, Yu Yu, and Li Shen
Opt. Lett. 48(5) 1335-1338 (2023)

Low loss and ultra-broadband design of an integrated 3 dB power splitter centered at 2 µm

Zhiming Liu, Yue Dong, Yin Xu, Bo Zhang, and Yi Ni
Appl. Opt. 63(3) 662-667 (2024)