Ultracompact and silicon-on-insulator-compatible polarization splitter based on asymmetric plasmonic–dielectric coupling

An ultracompact and silicon-on-insulator-compatible polarization splitter (PS) is proposed by utilizing asymmetric directional coupling between a hybrid plasmonic waveguide and a strip dielectric waveguide. Owing to the plasmon-assisted asymmetry, birefringence is highly enhanced. Polarization splitting can be realized by strong coupling of one polarization while the other polarization is phase-mismatched. As an example, a PS based on strong TM coupling is demonstrated at the wavelength of 1.55 μm with a coupling length of 4.13 μm. Extinction ratios are 20.9 and 16.4 dB for TM and TE polarizations, respectively. The device is also broadband and fabrication-tolerant.

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