Novel polarization-diversity devices on a silicon-on-insulator platform.
Silicon photonics built on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform has received much attention in recent years due to its compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, which makes the mass production of photonics devices cost-effective. The intrinsic high-index contrast property of SOI allows for photonics with very small footprint, which is highly desirable for system integration. However, this property results in high polarization dependence for silicon photonic devices. To solve this problem, polarization diversity circuits have been proposed in the literature. In this thesis, four different types of novel polarization diversity devices were explored and demonstrated on a 220 nm SOI platform. The thesis contributes significantly to further improving the polarization transparency of silicon photonic circuits. This will enhance the viability of silicon photonics for commercialization.
silicon photonics, silicon-on-insulator, polarization rotator, polarization-diversified circuit, polarization splitter and rotator, optical device
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