Low Loss MMI Couplers for High Performance MZI Modulators

Author

Thomson, D.J. ; Hu, Y. ; Reed, G.T. ; Fedeli, Jean-Marc

Author_Institution

Adv. Technol. Inst., Univ. of Surrey, Guildford, UK

Volume

22

Issue

20

fYear

2010

Firstpage

1485

Lastpage

1487

Abstract

Optical splitters and combiners which can provide precise splitting with low loss, high thermal stability, large optical bandwidth, high compactness, and insensitivity to fabrication tolerances are essential components for high performance Mach-Zehnder Interferometers (MZI)-based optical modulators. In this letter, we theoretically and experimentally investigate the multimode interference (MMI) based structure and the reduction in optical loss achievable through the use of linear tapers at the input and output ports. Our data shows that losses can be reduced to below 1 dB/MMI without affecting the static extinction when employed in MZIs.

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; optical beam splitters; optical couplers; optical modulation; MMI couplers; MZI modulators; Mach-Zehnder interferometers; linear tapers; multimode interference; optical combiners; optical loss reduction; optical modulators; optical splitters; thermal stability; Couplers; Extinction ratio; Optical coupling; Optical device fabrication; Optical devices; Optical interferometry; Optical losses; Optical modulation; Optical sensors; Optical waveguides; Performance loss; Low loss; Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZI); multimode interference (MMI); optical modulator; silicon photonics; taper;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2010.2063018

Filename

5540271