Abstract
There is a trend towards miniaturization of silicon photonic circuits
due to superior performance and small cost. Design rules that must be imposed
on the geometry of optical waveguides to make them behave as polarization-independent
and single-mode devices are well known for waveguides with relatively large
cross sections and for some small cross-sectional rib waveguides with vertical
sidewalls and an air top cladding. The influence of the top oxide cover on
waveguide birefringence was analyzed recently, but only for relatively large
cross-sectional waveguides. This paper reports simulations for both single-mode
and polarization-independent behavior for small cross-sectional waveguides
with variable rib width, etch depth, top oxide cover thickness, and sidewall
angle. The results show that the stress-induced effects must be taken into
account to satisfy both requirements. Design rules to maintain birefringence-free
operation and to satisfy single-mode behavior for small rib silicon-on-insulator
(SOI) waveguides are presented.
© 2008 IEEE
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