Design of a Y-branch in silicon-on-insulator based on simplified coherently coupled

D. PRESTI; G.A. TORCHIA; R. PEYTON; N. ABADÍA; F. VIDELA

Cardiff

Conferencia; The Semiconductor and Integrated Opto-Electronics (SIOE) Conference; 2019

IET Optoelectronics

Currently, silicon photonic technology has a significant importance in optical communications systems since its small footprint devices, CMOS process compatibility and high integration level. In particular, we focus on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) which is the most popular platform for that purpose. However, unlike electronic circuits where electrical routing can be accomplished flexibly, optical routing is limited either for optical conditions or technological limitation, and many designs violate the rules described in the fabrication process details. In order to solve the issues, geometries based on simplified coherently coupled, multi-sectional bends and smoothed corners can be conducted. Coherent coupling is a technique to bend light through small straight waveguides with sharp bending. Several studies have already reported on deviators and splitters with low-loss, compact and efficient devices, compared with other types of geometries. In this work we design a Y-branch using the coherent coupling theory and friendly geometries with modern CMOS photonics process, particularly on silicon-on-insulator platform. Finally, we optimize the design for reducing the excess loss, wavelength sensitivity, and footprint.