Abstract
In this paper, we have proposed a novel planar waveguide optical-power-splitter
design with a large number of splitting channels. The design uses the wavefront lateral
interference in light propagation in a slab waveguide, with its core properly adjusted
in different areas for achieving different effective indices for the required phase
delays. Therefore, the whole structure is equivalent to a nonblocking all-pass filter,
hence, suffers a very small insertion loss. Another unique advantage of this structure
lies in its weak length dependence on the number of splitting channels; although its
lateral size has to be scaled up as the channel number increases, as opposed to
conventional splitters with both of its length and lateral size scaled up with
increasing channel numbers. Our numerical simulation results show that, for a 1-to-256
channel splitter within a working wavelength band from 1530 to 1570 nm, the insertion
loss is below 1.3 dB. The channel nonuniformity is less than 5 dB within the same band.
The required size is within 2.5 mm by 10 mm on the silicon-on-insulator platform. The
proposed structure can readily be extended to other material platforms, such as the
silica-based planar lightwave circuit or semiconductors. Its fabrication process is
fully compatible with standard clean-room technologies, such as photolithography and
etching, without any complicated and/or costly approach involved.
© 2015 IEEE
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