Abstract

A polarization-insensitive mode-order converting power splitter using a pixelated region is presented and investigated in this paper. As TE₀ and TM₀ modes are injected into the input port, they are converted into TE₁ and TM₁ modes, which evenly come out from the two output ports. The finite-difference time-domain method and direct-binary-search optimization algorithm are utilized to optimize structural parameters of the pixelated region to attain small insertion loss, low crosstalk, wide bandwidth, excellent power uniformity, polarization-insensitive property, and compact size. Experimental results reveal that the insertion loss, crosstalk, and power uniformity of the fabricated device at 1550 nm are 0.57, −19.67, and 0.094 dB in the case of TE polarization, while in the TM polarization, the relevant insertion loss, crosstalk, and power uniformity are 0.57, −19.40, and 0.11 dB. Within a wavelength range from 1520 to 1600 nm, for the fabricated device working at TE polarization, the insertion loss, crosstalk, and power uniformity are lower than 1.39, −17.64, and 0.14 dB. In the case of TM polarization, we achieved an insertion loss, crosstalk, and power uniformity less than 1.23, −17.62, and 0.14 dB.

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