Broadband silicon photonic directional

coupler using asymmetric-waveguide

based phase control

Zeqin Lu,∗ Han Yun, Yun Wang, Zhitian Chen, Fan Zhang,
Nicolas A. F. Jaeger, and Lukas Chrostowski
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia (UBC),
Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada
∗ zqlu@ece.ubc.ca

Abstract: We design and demonstrate broadband directional couplers

that use asymmetric-waveguide based phase control sections, on the
silicon-on-insulator platform. Broadband directional couplers with various
power splitting ratios, including 10%/90%, 20%/80%, 30%/70%, 40%/60%
and 50%/50%, were realized for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse
magnetic (TM) modes. Some of the devices exhitbit bandwidths in excess
of 100 nm, and all in excess of 75 nm. The footprints of the TE mode
couplers are 32 µm ×1.3 µm, or less, and those of the TM mode couplers
are 13 µm ×1.3 µm, or less.
© 2015 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (130.3120) Integrated optics devices; (230.7370) Waveguides.

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1. Introduction
Optical power couplers are essential devices for splitting and combining light in photonic sys-
tems. In photonic integrated circuits, a compact, wavelength-independent, power coupler is
highly desired, especially for data communication applications, such as wavelength-division-
multiplexing [1, 2] and signal switching [3–5]. Directional couplers (DCs) have been widely
used as power couplers due to their simple configurations and the ease with which they can be
fabricated in the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. However, the coupling ratios of conven-
tional DCs are known to be highly sensitive to their operating wavelengths.
In the past two decades much effort has gone into developing broadband power couplers and
many papers have been published in this topic [6–13]. Among these works, Mach-Zehender
interferometer (MZI) based couplers [9, 12, 13], which integrate an MZI structure into either
DCs or multimode-interferometers, exhibit broadband performance, but their footprints are
usually on the scale of hundreds of µm2 . Adiabatic couplers that use tapered waveguides to
split power [6, 7] also have promising broadband properties, but again at the cost of large foot-
prints. The recently proposed hybrid plasmonic couplers [10] are both broadband and small in
size. However, they require plasmonic metal deposition, which increases the complexity and
cost of fabrication.
In this work, we demonstrate 2×2 asymmetric-waveguide-assisted directional couplers that
are broadband (operate over a wide wavelength range), compact in size, simple in structure, and
easy to fabricate. Couplers with various splitting ratios were designed to operate in the wave-
length region from 1500 nm to 1600 nm, for either transverse electric (TE) mode or transverse
magnetic (TM) mode, and were fabricated using SOI strip waveguides. Our measurement re-
sults show that the bandwidths of our devices are greater than 75 nm with some of them greater
than 100 nm. The footprints of our devices are 31.4 µm ×1.3 µm or less for TE mode couplers,
and 12.5 µm ×1.3 µm or less for TM mode couplers.

#226696 - $15.00 USD Received 12 Nov 2014; revised 9 Jan 2015; accepted 12 Jan 2015; published 6 Feb 2015
© 2015 OSA 9 Feb 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 3 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.003795 | OPTICS EXPRESS 3796
2. Design
2.1. Schematic
Perspective view Cross-section view
Sym
E2 me Symmetric coupler
tric
co u
ple Oxide Cladding
E1 L1 rs
L2 500 nm 500 nm
R Pha L1 SiO
2 Sub
strate
se c 220 nm
ont
rol
s ectio E4 200 nm
n SiO2 Substrate
E3
Top view Phase control section
Oxide Cladding
Symmetric Phase control Symmetric
Input section Output
coupler coupler 600 nm 400 nm
300 nm 220 nm
Waveguide 1 Waveguide 2

Input 1 µm taper 1 µm taper Output SiO2 Substrate

Fig. 1: Schematic of broadband directional coupler.

Our 2×2 broadband DCs are based on 220-nm-high SOI strip waveguides. Such a device,
as shown in Fig. 1, consists of a symmetric coupler followed by an asymmetric-waveguide
based phase control section followed by a second symmetric coupler, where linearly tapered
waveguides are used to connect the asymmetric-waveguides to the symmetric couplers. Each
of the symmetric couplers consists of two 500 nm wide waveguides separated by a 200 nm
gap. The phase control section consists of one 400 nm wide waveguide and one 600 nm wide
waveguide separated by a 300 nm gap. The tapered connecting waveguides are each 1 µm long
(see the top view in Fig. 1). The lengths of the symmetric couplers and the phase control section
are defined as L1 and L2 , respectively. We use four 90◦ waveguide bends with radius R for the
inputs and outputs of our couplers. The radius R for the TE and TM mode couplers are chosen
to be 5 µm and 10 µm, respectively.
As shown in the top view of Fig. 1, which is labeled with white arrows, the light is launched
into one of the input ports at the left side of a broadband DC. When propagating along the
symmetric coupler on the left side, the light will couple from one waveguide to another and
the coupling ratio is wavelength-dependent. In the asymmetric-waveguide-based phase control
section, the light confined in each waveguide propagates through without coupling, and will
be phase shifted relative to the light in the other waveguide. After that, the light will couple in
the symmetric coupler on the right side, and finally exit from the two outputs. The idea behind
this design is to introduce a small phase shift between the two symmetric couplers by using the
asymmetric-waveguides, to compensate for the wavelength-dependent coupling ratios of the
symmetric couplers.

2.2. Theoretical analysis

We use the transfer matrix method (TMM) to analyze our device. The relationship between the
input and output electric fields of the coupler can be expressed as:
   
E3 E
= C · Pt · P · Pt−1 ·C · 1 (1)
E4 E2

where E1 and E2 are the electric fields at the inputs and E3 and E4 represent the electric fields at
the two outputs, as shown in Fig. 1. Matrix C is the coupling matrix of the symmetric couplers
and matrix P describes the propagation matrix of the phase control section. Matrices Pt and
 Symmetric coupler Phase control section
TE TM TE TM 1

Symmetric (+) Symmetric (+) Mode 1 Mode 1 0.8

0.6
waveguide 1 waveguide 2 waveguide 1 waveguide 2
0.4
Anti-symmetric (-) Anti-symmetric (-) Mode 2 Mode 2
0.2

waveguide 1 waveguide 2 waveguide 1 waveguide 2 0

(a) (b)
Symmetric coupler (TE) Phase control section (TE)
1.9 0.14 2.8

Effective index difference

0.13

Effective Index
Effective Index

1.84 2.6
0.12
n1
1.78 n+ 0.11 2.4
n2
n− 0.1
1.72 2.2
∆neff 0.09
1.66 0.08 2
1500 1550 1600 1500 1550 1600
Wavelength [nm] Wavelength [nm]

(c) (d)
Symmetric coupler (TM) Phase control section (TM)
2.55 0.03
Effective index difference
2
n1
2.5
0.027
Effective Index 1.9 n2
Effective Index

0.024
2.45 n+
1.8
0.021
2.4 n− 1.7
0.018
∆neff
2.35 0.015 1.6
1500 1550 1600 1500 1550 1600
Wavelength [nm] Wavelength [nm]

(e) (f)
Fig. 2: Supermode distributions of (a) the symmetric couplers and (b) the phase control section.
Effective indices in the symmetric couplers for (c) the TE modes and (e) the TM modes. Effective
indices in the phase control section for (d) the TE modes and (f) the TM modes.

Pt−1 are the propagation matrixes of the tapered waveguides at the right and the left sides of the
phase control section, respectively. The coupling matrix, C, is given by:
 
t − jk π α
C= · e− j λ (n+ +n− )L1 − 2 ·L1 , (2)
− jk t
where α is the propagation loss in 500 nm wide silicon waveguides, and we assume that the
propagation losses of all of the waveguides in our devices are the same and have been taken to
be 2.7 dB/cm (see for example [14]). The straight-through coefficient, t, and the cross-coupling
coefficient, k, are given by [15, 16]:
π∆ne f f π∆ne f f
L1 ) ; k = sin(
t = cos( L1 ) (3)
λ λ
where n+ and n− are the effective indices of the lowest order symmetric (+) and anti-symmetric
(-) modes (see Fig. 2(a)), respectively. ∆ne f f is the difference of effective indices of the modes,
i.e., ∆ne f f = n+ − n− , as shown in Figs. 2(c) and 2(e). λ is the wavelength. The distributions
of modes and their effective indices are calculated using the Mode Solutions by Lumerical
Solutions, Inc [17].
The propagation matrix, P, is given by:
" 2πn1 α
#
e− j λ ·L2 − 2 ·L2 0
P= 2πn2 α (4)
0 e− j λ ·L2 − 2 ·L2
where n1 and n2 are the effective indices of mode 1 and mode 2 in the phase control section,
respectively. Here, as shown in Fig. 2(b), mode 1 refers to the fundamental mode that is, in fact,
primarily confined in waveguide 1, and mode 2 refers to the next higher order mode that is, in
fact, primarily confined in waveguide 2. The values of n1 and n2 are calculated and shown in
Figs. 2(d) and 2(f).
Here, we have assumed that Pt can be approximated by:
 − jθ − α ·L 
e t1 2 t 0
Pt = α (5)
0 e− jθt2 − 2 ·Lt
where θt1 and θt2 are the phase shifts in the 500-nm-to-600-nm and the 500-nm-to-400-nm
tapered waveguides, respectively. Lt is the tapered waveguide length, which is 1 µm in our
design. We determined θt1 and θt2 as function of wavelength using the FDTD Solutions by
Lumerical Solutions, Inc [17]
When E1 is the input electric field, the power splitting ratios at the cross port, ηcross , and at
the through port, ηthrough , are given by:
|E4 |2 |E3 |2
ηcross = ; ηthrough = (6)
|E3 |2 + |E4 |2 |E3 |2 + |E4 |2
ηcross of TE mode coupler at λ = 1550 nm [%] ηcross of TM mode coupler at λ = 1550 nm [%]
6 13
Point of interest 20
10 20 30 10
5.5 for 10%/90% 10 30
10%/90% power
20
10 12 40
20 50 40splitting ratio curve
Delay section length L [µm]

20
Delay section length L [µm]

5 10 30
30 60
20

30
40 40
50 11 50
20

50 60 50 60 70 70
30
40
4.5
2

80
2

60 70
40 80
30 30
10

70 90
20

10
40

4 90
80 Point of interest Point of interest
20

50

50

60
80

40
50%/50% power
60

20
for 50%/50% for 50%/50%
60

80
10%/90% power
90

3.5 90 splitting ratio curve

70

9
splitting ratio curve
30

70

30
90 90
10

40

70
3 80

50
50 60 70
8
60 80
2.5 20 40 70
30 40 50 50 60 60
20

40 7 30
10 20 30 40
2 50
20 20
10 40 30
10

10 Point of interest 30
1.5 50%/50% power 6 20
for 10%/90% 20 10
splitting ratio curve 10 10
1 5
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 1 2 3 4 5 6
Coupling section length L [µm] Coupling section length L1 [µm]
1

(a) (b)
∆ηcross of TE mode coupler ∆η of TM mode coupler
cross
within 100 nm spectral range [%] within 100 nm spectral range [%]
6 13 10
Point of interest 15
5.5 for 10%/90% 5 20 10%/90% power
15

12 splitting ratio curve

10 10
Delay section length L2 [µm]

Delay section length L2 [µm]

5 5
11
5 15
20

25
10

20
15

4.5
20

5 10 20
10 10 Point of interest
4
15

10%/90% power 15 for 50%/50% 25

10

Point of interest 15
splitting ratio curve 50%/50% power 30
3.5 20for 50%/50% 9
10

splitting ratio curve

5

20

10
20

15
15

15

3 5
20 8
15

2.5
5

30
25

15
10 7
10
2
5

5 5 Point of interest 20
15
10

1.5 6 for 10%/90% 15

50%/50% power
splitting ratio curve 10
1 5
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 1 2 3 4 5 6
Coupling section length L [µm] Coupling section length L1 [µm]
1

(c) (d)
Fig. 3: Contour maps of ηcross as functions of L1 and L2 at λ = 1550 nm for (a) the TE mode and
(b) the TM mode. Contours maps of ∆ηcross as functions of L1 and L2 in the wavelength range from
1500 nm to 1600 nm for (c) the TE mode and (d) the TM mode.

Using Eq. (6), we are able to find the values of L1 and L2 for a desired broadband splitting
ratio response. We plot the cross splitting ratio, ηcross , as functions of L1 and L2 at the central
wavelength of 1550 nm, as shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). We also plot the maximum deviation
of ηcross over a 100 nm spectral range (from 1500 nm to 1600 nm) as functions of L1 and L2 ,
as illustrated in Figs. 3(c) and 3(d). The maximum deviation of ηcross is defined as ∆ηcross =
|ηcross (λ ) − ηcross (1550)|max . To obtain the optimal L1 and L2 for a desired broadband splitting
ratio, we can look for the overlap between a desired ηcross and a small ∆ηcross region. As shown
in Fig. 3, dash lines and stars provide the examples of how to choose optimal parameters for
10%/90% and 50%/50% couplers.

2.3. FDTD simulation

TE mode TM mode
1
λ = 1500 nm λ = 1500 nm

0.8

λ = 1550 nm λ = 1550 nm 0.6

0.4

λ = 1600 nm λ = 1600 nm
0.2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15
[µm] [µm]
(a) (b)

Fig. 4: Power distributions of the 50%/50% broadband DCs for (a) TE and (b) TM modes, at different
wavelengths.

ηcross of TE mode coupler ηcross of TM mode coupler

0.65 0.65
Normalized Splitting Ratio

Normalized Splitting Ratio

0.6 0.6

0.55 0.55

0.5 0.5

0.45 0.45
Broadband DC − 3D FDTD Broadband DC − 3D FDTD
0.4 Broadband DC − TMM 0.4 Broadband DC − TMM
Conventional DC − 3D FDTD Conventional DC − 3D FDTD
0.35 0.35
1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600 1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 5: Simulated ηcross of (a) TE mode and (b) TM mode couplers. The FDTD and the TMM simula-
tion results for broadband DCs are shown by the red lines and the blue lines, respectively. For compar-
ison, the FDTD simulation results of 50%/50% conventional DCs are also shown by the green lines.
The conventional DCs are formed with 500 nm wide, 220 nm high SOI strip waveguides separated
by a 200 nm gap.

The TMM simulation provides a basic range of optimal L1 s and L2 s. The entire structures
are further simulated and optimized using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain
(3D FDTD) method [17]. Here, as an example, we present the simulation results for 50%/50%
broadband DCs. Figures 4(a) and 4(b) respectively show the power distributions of the TE and
TM modes in broadband DCs at three different wavelengths. The optimal device dimensions
for the TE mode coupler are L1 = 12.4 µm and L2 = 4.6 µm; while those for TM mode coupler

#226696 - $15.00 USD Received 12 Nov 2014; revised 9 Jan 2015; accepted 12 Jan 2015; published 6 Feb 2015
© 2015 OSA 9 Feb 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 3 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.003795 | OPTICS EXPRESS 3800
are L1 = 2.2 µm and L2 = 6.1 µm. Other parameters, such as waveguide widths and gaps, are
given in Fig. 1. As shown in Figs. 5(a) and 5(b), the FDTD simulation results for broadband
DCs are in good agreements with those calculated by using the TMM.
In Figs. 5(a) and 5(b) we plot and compare the FDTD simulation results for 50%/50% con-
ventional DCs with our designs. In the comparison, the conventional DCs consist of two 500
nm wide SOI strip waveguides separated by a 200 nm gap. Within the 100 nm wavelength range
from 1500 nm to 1600 nm, the deviations of ηcross for our TE mode and TM mode couplers are
only ±3.5% and ±1.5%, respectively, as shown in Fig. 5. However, large deviations are seen
in both the TE and the TM modes conventional DCs. In conclusion, for both the TE and TM
modes, the power splitting ratios of our broadband DCs are much less sensitive to the operation
wavelength than those of the conventional DCs.

3. Fabrication and measurement

3.1. Fabrication
Our broadband DCs were fabricated using electron-beam lithography on a SOI wafer with 220
nm thick silicon on a 3 µm thick buried oxide layer. After etching, the chip had a 2 µm thick
silicon dioxide layer deposited on the waveguides by using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor
deposition.

Fig. 6: Optical images of (a) test structure; (b) calibration structure and (c) broadband DC.
Broadband DCs with various power splitting ratios have been fabricated. All of the couplers
were designed to be characterized using an indirect measurement method. Figure 6(a) shows
an optical image of a fabricated test structure. We characterized each of the broadband DCs by
using it as the output re-combiner of a 1×2 MZI, where the input splitter was a balanced Y
junction power splitter [18]. The asymmetric MZI had a delay length of ∆L = 360 µm. Grating
couplers (GCs) [19] were used to couple light into and out of the MZI. Strip waveguides con-
necting the GCs to the MZI, were 500-nm-wide by 220-nm-high silicon nanowires. To calibrate
the insertion loss of the input/output GCs, calibration structures having the same input/output
configurations as the test structures, were also fabricated, which is shown in Fig. 6(b).

3.2. Measurements of 50% / 50% broadband DCs

To characterize our devices, we used an Agilent 81600B tunable laser as the input source and
both channels of an Agilent 81635A optical power sensor as the output detectors. TE and

#226696 - $15.00 USD Received 12 Nov 2014; revised 9 Jan 2015; accepted 12 Jan 2015; published 6 Feb 2015
© 2015 OSA 9 Feb 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 3 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.003795 | OPTICS EXPRESS 3801
 TE mode
0
−10

Power, dBm
−20
−30
Output 1
−40
Output 2
−50
1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600
Wavelength (nm)
(a)
TM mode
0
−10
Power, dBm

−20
−30
Output 1
−40
Output 2
−50
1500 1510 1520 1530 1540 1550 1560 1570 1580 1590 1600
Wavelength (nm)

(b)
50% / 50% TE mode coupler 50% / 50% TM mode coupler
1 1
ηcross − Measurement ηcross − Measurement
Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

0.9 0.9
ηcross − FDTD ηcross − FDTD
0.8 0.8
0.7 +1 dB limit 0.7 +1 dB limit

0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
-1 dB limit -1 dB limit
0.3 0.3
0.2 ± 1 dB bandwidth 0.2 ±1 dB bandwidth
1512 nm 1597 nm
0.1 0.1
0 0
1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600 1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

(c) (d)
Fig. 7: Measurement results for the 50%/50% broadband DCs. Spectra of the MZIs for (a) the TE
mode and (b) the TM mode. Extracted data of the broadband DCs for (c) the TE mode and (d) the
TM mode. Extinction ratios in (b) at wavelengths above 1590 nm are limited by the measurement
due to the grating coupler insertion loss

TM mode fiber arrays were used to inject signals into the input GC and to collect the out-
put signals from the two output GCs. The pitch of fibers within the fiber arrays matched the
127-µm-spacing between the GCs on chip, making it convenient to align fibers to the input and
output GCs and to measure the two output spectra simultaneously.
Here, we show and analyze the measurement results of 50% / 50% broadband DCs. Figures
7(a) and 7(b) present the MZI output spectra for the TE and TM modes, respectively, in which
the insertion loss introduced by the GCs have been calibrated out. The extinction ratios (ERs)
of a MZI refer to the power ratio difference on a logarithmic scale of the two outputs when one
is at a minimum and the other is at a maximum. For the TE mode spectra as shown in Fig. 7(a),
the ERs are greater than 20 dB over the 100 nm wavelength span from 1500 nm to 1600 nm.
The excess loss of the TE mode MZI circuit is less than 1 dB, which indicates the excess loss of
the TE mode coupler is less than 1 dB. For the TM mode spectra as shown in Fig. 7(b), the ERs
exceed 30 dB over the wavelength range from 1500 nm to 1590 nm, and the excess loss of the
TM mode coupler is less than 0.7 dB. We attribute the excess loss to the sidewall roughness of
SOI waveguides. As the TE mode has larger overlap with the sidewalls of an SOI waveguide,
than the TM mode, the TE mode coupler suffers higher excess loss. It needs to be mentioned
that, here, the measured excess loss also includes the loss in the MZI.
Using the ERs of the interference spectra at the MZI outputs, we extracted the power splitting
ratios of our couplers, which are given by [20]:
s
ERs
1 1 10 10 − 1 2
ηcross = ± 1 − ( ERs ) ; ηthrough = 1 − ηcross (7)
2 2 10 10 + 1
The extracted cross splitting ratios, i.e., ηcross , are shown in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d). We use a ±1
dB bandwidth and an average measured splitting ratio to evaluate the performance of a device.
The ±1 dB bandwidth is defined as the wavelength span over which deviations of the extracted
ηcross are within ±1 dB of their design value. For example, the ±1 dB bandwidth of a 50%/50%
(i.e., -3 dB) coupler is the wavelength span over which its ηcross is within 63.1% (i.e., -2 dB) to
39.8% (i.e., -4 dB); while that of a 10%/90% (i.e., -10 dB) coupler is within 12.6% (i.e., -9 dB)
to 7.9% (i.e., -11 dB). As shown in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d), the ±1 dB limits are marked out by
black dash lines. We define the average measured splitting ratio for a particular coupler as the
mean of the extracted power splitting ratios.
Accrodingly, as shown in Fig. 7(c), the 50%/50% TE mode coupler has a 88 nm bandwidth
over the wavelength range from 1512 nm to 1600 nm, as well as an average measured split-
ting ratio of 46.1%/53.9%. As shown in Fig. 7(d), the 50%/50% TM mode coupler has a
bandwidth of 97 nm, from 1500 nm to 1597 nm, and an average measured splitting ratio of
48.76%/51.24%. It also shows its best performance in the wavelength span from 1500 nm to
1590 nm, where the deviations of the extracted ηcross are within ±0.15 dB. For the wavelengths
above 1590 nm, the extracted ηcross of the 50%/50% TM mode coupler deviates from the simu-
lation results. The reason is that our TM mode GCs [19] show high insertion loss at wavelengths
above 1590 nm, and they suppress the measurable ERs. According to Eq. (7), smaller ERs indi-
cates more deviation from 50%/50% power splitting. At wavelengths above 1590 nm, the ERs
shown in Fig. 7(b) are limited by our measurement due to the insertion loss of the TM mode
GCs, and, thus, the extracted ηcross shown in Fig. 7 (d) deviates from 50%/50% power splitting.
Our 50%/50% TM mode coupler would appear to work better if the insertion loss of our TM
mode GCs are lower at wavelengths above 1590 nm. In addition, please note that although the
definition of the ±1 dB bandwidth appear to be loose for evaluating the 50%/50% couplers, the
extracted ηcross of our 50%/50% couplers are well confined within a 1 dB band (i.e., from 0 dB
to -1 dB of their design value), which are shown in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d).
The FDTD simulation results are also shown by the blue dash lines in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d).
Good agreement is seen between the simulated and the measured results. When comparing the
performance of the 50%/50% TE mode and the 50%/50% TM mode couplers, the extracted
ηcross of the TE mode coupler is found to be less uniform than that of the TM mode coupler.
This phenomenon will be discussed below.

3.3. Measurements of broadband DCs with other power splitting ratios

10% / 90% TE mode coupler 10% / 90% TM mode coupler
1 1
ηcross − Measurement ηcross − Measurement
Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

0.9 0.9
ηcross − FDTD ηcross − FDTD
0.8 0.8
0.7 0.7
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5 1597 nm
1518 nm 1593 nm
0.4 0.4 ±1 dB bandwidth
± 1 dB bandwidth
0.3 0.3
0.2 +1 dB limit 0.2
0.1 0.1
Isolated data point -1 dB limit
0 0
1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600 1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 8: Measurement results for the 10%/90% broadband DCs for the (a) TE and (b) TM modes.
 20% / 80% TE mode coupler 20% / 80% TM mode coupler
1 1
η − Measurement ηcross − Measurement

Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

Normalized Power Splitting Ratio
0.9 cross 0.9
ηcross − FDTD ηcross − FDTD
0.8 0.8

0.7 0.7
1587 nm
0.6 0.6
1512 nm ±1 dB bandwidth
0.5 ± 1 dB bandwidth 0.5
0.4 0.4
+1 dB limit +1 dB limit
0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1 -1 dB limit
Isolated data point -1 dB limit
0 0
1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600 1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 9: Measurement results for the 20%/80% broadband DCs for the (a) TE and (b) TM modes.

30% / 70% TE mode coupler 30% / 70% TM mode coupler

1 1
ηcross − Measurement ηcross − Measurement

Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

0.9 0.9
ηcross − FDTD ηcross − FDTD
0.8 0.8
0.7 ±1 dB bandwidth
0.7 1594 nm
0.6 ±1 dB bandwidth 0.6
+1 dB limit
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1 -1 dB limit
0 0
1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600 1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 10: Measurement results for the 30%/70% broadband DCs for the (a) TE and (b) TM modes.

40% / 60% TE mode coupler 40% / 60% TM mode coupler

1 1
ηcross − Measurement ηcross − Measurement
Normalized Power Splitting Ratio
Normalized Power Splitting Ratio

0.9 0.9
ηcross − FDTD ηcross − FDTD
0.8 0.8
0.7 +1 dB limit
0.7 +1 dB limit
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3
Isolated data point
0.2 0.2
-1 dB limit -1 dB limit
0.1 ± 1 dB bandwidth 0.1 ±1 dB bandwidth

0 0
1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600 1500 1520 1540 1560 1580 1600
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

(a) (b)
Fig. 11: Measurement results for the 40%/60% broadband DCs for the (a) TE and (b) TM modes.

Broadband DCs with other power splitting ratios, including 10%/90%, 20%/80%, 30%/70%,
40%/60%, were also designed and fabricated with the same configuration as shown in Fig. 6(a).
We obtained ERs from their respective MZI spectra, and then used Eq. (7) to extract the power
splitting ratios of these devices. The extracted results for them are shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10,
and 11, respectively. Table 1 summarizes the device dimensions and performance of all of the
couplers. The ±1 dB bandwidth and average measured splitting ratio are also used to evaluate
the performance of these couplers. As shown by circles in Figs. 8(a), 9(a), and 11(a), there are
three isolated data points that are just silghtly outside the ±1 dB limits while the trends of their
respective data curves are well confined within the limits. Considering a ±0.3 dB measurement
uncertainty on the ERs of the TE mode MZI spectra, which will be discussed in section 3.4,
 Table 1: Device dimensions and performance of broadband DCs

Average measured L1 L2 Footprint

Designed coupler ± 1 dB bandwidth (nm)
splitting ratio (µm) (µm) (µm2 )
TE mode 10% / 90% 11.45% / 88.55% 75 (1518 nm ∼ 1593 nm) 5.3 5.05 17.65×1.3
TE mode 20% / 80% 19.89% / 80.11% 88 (1512 nm ∼ 1600 nm) 8 5 23×1.3
TE mode 30% / 70% 32.81% / 67.19% 94 (1500 nm ∼ 1594 nm) 9.7 4.8 26.2×1.3
TE mode 40% / 60% 38.77% / 61.23% >100 11.4 4.7 29.5×1.3
TE mode 50% / 50% 46.10% / 53.90% 88 (1512 nm ∼ 1600 nm) 12.4 4.6 31.4×1.3
TM mode 10% / 90% 9.30% / 90.70% 97 (1500 nm ∼ 1597 nm) 1 5.45 9.45×1.3
TM mode 20% / 80% 21.10% / 78.90% 87 (1500 nm ∼ 1587 nm) 1.5 5.6 10.6×1.3
TM mode 30% / 70% 30.45% / 69.55% >100 1.8 5.74 11.34×1.3
TM mode 40% /60% 39.96% / 60.04% >100 2 5.96 11.96×1.3
TM mode 50% /50% 48.76% / 51.24% 97 (1500 nm ∼ 1597 nm) 2.2 6.1 12.5×1.3

these three isolated data points were ignored when evaluating the bandwidths of couplers. Ac-
cordingly, all of the couplers show bandwidths of more than 75 nm, with some of them having
bandwidths in excess of 100 nm. The excess losses for all of the TE and TM mode couplers are
below 1 dB and 0.7 dB, respectively. As discussed in the previous section, the higher excess
loss of TE mode couplers can be attributed to the sidewall roughness of the SOI waveguides.
The extracted ηcross of all of the TE mode couplers are found to be less uniform than those of
the TM mode couplers. The sidewall roughness, due to lithography and etching, of silicon-on-
insulator waveguide leads to scattering at the sidewalls. The scattering not only contributes to
waveguide loss but also results in back-reflections. The back-reflections lead to random Fabry-
Perot effects inside our MZI, changing the transmission intensity through each waveguide and
introducing phase shifts. When the light goes into the combiner with random amplitude and
phase, versus wavelength, the ERs of the MZI spectra will be non-uniform. As the TE mode has
higher overlap with the sidewalls of waveguides, the TE mode couplers suffer higher waveguide
loss and back-reflection, and, thus, their spectra and power splitting ratios are more random. In
contrast, the TM mode has lower overlap with the sidewalls of waveguides, suffering lower
waveguide loss and back-reflection, and thus everything looks more uniform (A study of the
waveguide loss and back-reflection for the TE and the TM modes can be found in [21]). We hy-
pothesize that the ERs and the power splitting ratios of the TE mode couplers would have been
more uniform if the devices had been fabricated using 193 nm optical projection lithography,
which introduces much less sidewall roughness, instead of using electro-beam lithography.

3.4. Discussion of measurement methods

Throughout this work the indirect measurement method was used in characterizing all of
our couplers, because it has several advantages when compared with the direct measurement
method. Firstly, the indirect measurement method is much less sensitive to ripples in the re-
sponses of the GCs, than the direct measurement method. According to [19], the ripples in the
responses of our TE mode and TM mode GCs are 0.3 dB and 0.15 dB, respectively. These
ripples vary from one grating coupler to another in a fabrication run, and, thus, they cannot be
calibrated out. According to Eq. (7), an ideal 50%/50% coupler provides infinite ERs in the
MZI output spectra, as a result the influence of a ±0.3 dB ripple on the ERs of MZI spectra
are negligible. For an ideal 10%/90% coupler, which provides 6 dB ERs in the MZI outputs,
the influence of a ±0.3 dB ripple on the 6 dB ERs leads to only a splitting ratio deviation of
±0.8% on a linear scale, which is acceptable. In comparison, when directly measuring an ideal

#226696 - $15.00 USD Received 12 Nov 2014; revised 9 Jan 2015; accepted 12 Jan 2015; published 6 Feb 2015
© 2015 OSA 9 Feb 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 3 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.003795 | OPTICS EXPRESS 3805
50%/50% coupler, the influence of a ±0.3 dB ripple would lead to a splitting ratio deviation
of ±3.7% on a linear scale in both outputs. This is even worse for directly measuring an ideal
10%/90% coupler, where the same ripple would cause a deviation of about ±6.4% on a linear
scale in its higher power output. Secondly, the insertion loss our GCs [19] are sensitive to fabri-
cation variations, such as wafer thickness non-uniformity. As the indirect measurement method
does not depend on the absolute output power, it can provide more accurate results.

4. Conclusion
We have demonstrated broadband TE mode and TM mode DCs. Our couplers show large band-
widths, of more than 75 nm, and low excess losses, of less than 1 dB. Our couplers have simple
structures, compact footprints and are easy to fabricate. Using our approach and the contour
maps shown in Fig. 3, arbitrary power splitting ratios can be realized by simply setting the
lengths of the symmetric couplers, L1 , and the length of the phase control section, L2 . While
here the demostrated couplers are cladded by silicon dioxide, couplers with other claddings
including air cladding can also be realized by using our approach presented in section 2.
As fundemental components in photonic integrated circuits, the demostrated broadband DCs
would likely find many applications in areas, such as optical switching [22,23] and wavelength-
division-multiplexing [24], and in devices, such as polarization splitter-rotators [25] and mod-
ulators [26].

Acknowledgments
We acknowlege the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC), particular the Silicon Electronic-Photonic Integrated Circuits
(SiEPIC) Program. The devices were fabricated by Richard Bojko at the University of Wash-
ington WNF, part of the NSF NNIN. Zeqin Lu appreciates the China Scholarship Council (CSC)
for the financial support of his PhD program. We would like to thank Miguel Guillen (UBC)
for his assistance with the optical images, and thank Michael Caverley (UBC) and Minglei Ma
(UBC) for discussions. We acknowledge CMC Microsystems, Lumerical Solutions and Mentor
Graphics for the design software.

#226696 - $15.00 USD Received 12 Nov 2014; revised 9 Jan 2015; accepted 12 Jan 2015; published 6 Feb 2015
© 2015 OSA 9 Feb 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 3 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.003795 | OPTICS EXPRESS 3806
#226696 - $15.00 USD Received 12 Nov 2014; revised 9 Jan 2015; accepted 12 Jan 2015; published 6 Feb 2015
© 2015 OSA 9 Feb 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 3 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.003795 | OPTICS EXPRESS 3807
#226696 - $15.00 USD Received 12 Nov 2014; revised 9 Jan 2015; accepted 12 Jan 2015; published 6 Feb 2015
© 2015 OSA 9 Feb 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 3 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.003795 | OPTICS EXPRESS 3808