Abstract

Tapered multimode interference (MMI) couplers have been broadly studied for applications in integrated photonic circuits due to their footprints being smaller than conventional MMIs. The operation of an MMI is fundamentally related to the Talbot effect. In this Letter, the Talbot effect is analyzed in cylindrical coordinates, rather than conventional Cartesian coordinates. A cylindrical geometry is found to result in a significant reduction of Talbot distance and, hence, more compact MMIs. Simulation results are compared to theoretical predictions to confirm the accuracy of the method.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

Dual-mode waveguide crossing utilizing taper-assisted multimode-interference couplers

Hongnan Xu and Yaocheng Shi
Opt. Lett. 41(22) 5381-5384 (2016)

Compact and low-loss asymmetrical multimode interference splitter for power monitoring applications

Andrea Zanzi, Antoine Brimont, Amadeu Griol, Pablo Sanchis, and Javier Marti
Opt. Lett. 41(2) 227-229 (2016)

Fractional nonparaxial accelerating Talbot effect

Yiqi Zhang, Hua Zhong, Milivoj R. Belić, Changbiao Li, Zhaoyang Zhang, Feng Wen, Yanpeng Zhang, and Min Xiao
Opt. Lett. 41(14) 3273-3276 (2016)

On the generality of the Talbot condition for inducing self-imaging effects on periodic objects

Luis Romero Cortés, Hugues Guillet de Chatellus, and José Azaña
Opt. Lett. 41(2) 340-343 (2016)

Polarization-insensitive silicon waveguide crossing based on multimode interference couplers

Jingye Chen and Yaocheng Shi
Opt. Lett. 43(24) 5961-5964 (2018)