Design and realization of a microracetrack resonator based polarization splitter in silicon-on-insulator

An efficient polarization splitter based on a microracetrack resonator in silicon-on-insulator has been designed and realized using electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching. Polarization-dependent waveguides and the microracetrack resonator are combined and exploited to split two orthogonal polarizations. Rib waveguides are employed to enhance the coupling efficiency for the transverse-electric mode and endow the resonator with high performance for both polarizations. In experiments, a splitting ratio has been achieved of about 20 dB at the drop port around 1550 nm for each extracted polarization, in good agreement with the prediction.

Design of a compact polarizing beam splitter based on a photonic crystal ring resonator with a triangular lattice

We propose and simulate a new kind of compact polarizing beam splitter (PBS) based on a photonic crystal ring resonator (PCRR) with complete photonic bandgaps. The two polarized states are separated far enough by resonant and nonresonant coupling between the waveguide modes and the microring modes. Some defect holes are utilized to control the beam propagation. The simulated results obtained by the finite-difference time-domain method show that high transmission (over 95%) is obtained and the polarization separation is realized with a length as short as 3.1 mu m. The design of the proposed PBS can be flexible, thanks to the advantages of PCRRs.

Development of new tools and devices for CMB and foreground data analysis and future experiments

The discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation in 1965 is one of the fundamental milestones supporting the Big Bang theory. The CMB is one of the most important source of information in cosmology. The excellent accuracy of the recent CMB data of WMAP and Planck satellites confirmed the validity of the standard cosmological model and set a new challenge for the data analysis processes and their interpretation. In this thesis we deal with several aspects and useful tools of the data analysis. We focus on their optimization in order to have a complete exploitation of the Planck data and contribute to the final published results. The issues investigated are: the change of coordinates of CMB maps using the HEALPix package, the problem of the aliasing effect in the generation of low resolution maps, the comparison of the Angular Power Spectrum (APS) extraction performances of the optimal QML method, implemented in the code called BolPol, and the pseudo-Cl method, implemented in Cromaster. The QML method has been then applied to the Planck data at large angular scales to extract the CMB APS. The same method has been applied also to analyze the TT parity and the Low Variance anomalies in the Planck maps, showing a consistent deviation from the standard cosmological model, the possible origins for this results have been discussed. The Cromaster code instead has been applied to the 408 MHz and 1.42 GHz surveys focusing on the analysis of the APS of selected regions of the synchrotron emission. The new generation of CMB experiments will be dedicated to polarization measurements, for which are necessary high accuracy devices for separating the polarizations. Here a new technology, called Photonic Crystals, is exploited to develop a new polarization splitter device and its performances are compared to the devices used nowadays.

Design of novel polarization beam splitter in two-dimensional photonic crystal

We present the design and the simulation of an ultracompact high efficiency polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on the properties of the light waves propagating in straight waveguide and composite structure photonic crystal. The splitting properties of the PBS are numerically simulated and analyzed by using the plane wave expansion (PWE) method and finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The PBS consists of three parts, namely, input waveguide, beam structure and output waveguide. It is shown that a high efficiency and a large separating angle for TE mode and TM mode can be achieved. Owing to these excellent features, including small size and high rate, the PBS makes a promising candidate in the future photonic integrated circuits.

Design of a compact polarization beam splitter based on a deformed photonic crystal directional coupler

In this paper a compact polarization beam splitter based on a deformed photonic crystal directional coupler is designed and simulated. The transverse-electric (TE) guided mode and transverse-magnetic (TM) guided mode are split due to different guiding mechanisms. The effect of the shape deformation of the air holes on the coupler is studied. It discovered that the coupling strength of the coupled waveguides is strongly enhanced by introducing elliptical airholes, which reduce the device length to less than 18.5 mu m. A finite-difference time-domain simulation is performed to evaluate the performance of the device, and the extinction ratios for both TE and TM polarized light are higher than 20 dB.

Integration of a photonic crystal polarization beam splitter and waveguide bend

In this work, we present the design of an integrated photonic-crystal polarization beam splitter (PC-PBS) and a low-loss photonic-crystal 60 waveguide bend. Firstly, the modal properties of the PC-PBS and the mechanism of the low-loss waveguide bend are investigated by the two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, and then the integration of the two devices is studied. It shows that, although the individual devices perform well separately, the performance of the integrated circuit is poor due to the multi-mode property of the PC-PBS. By introducing deformed airhole structures, a single-mode PC-PBS is proposed, which significantly enhance the performance of the circuit with the extinction ratios remaining above 20dB for both transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarizations. Both the specific result and the general idea of integration design are promising in the photonic crystal integrated circuits in the future. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Mode analysis of photonic crystal polarization beam splitter and its application in integrated circuits design - art. no. 698437

In this work, the guided modes of a photonic crystal polarization beam splitter (PC-PBS) are studied. We demonstrate that the transmission of a low-loss photonic crystal 120 degrees waveguide bend integrated with the PBS will be influenced if the PBS is multi-moded. We propose a single-moded PC-PBS structure by introducing deformed structures, and it shows twice the enhancement of the transmission. This device with remarkable improvement of performance is promising in the use of photonic crystal integrated circuits design.

Polarizing beam splitter of a deep-etched fused-silica grating

We described a highly efficient polarizing beam splitter (PBS) of a deep-etched binary-phase fused-silica grating, where TE- and TM-polarized waves are mainly diffracted in the -1st and 0th orders, respectively. Tb achieve a high extinction ratio and diffraction efficiency, the grating depth and period are optimized by using rigorous coupled-wave analysis, which can be well explained based on the modal method with effective indices of the modes for TE/TM polarization. Holographic recording technology and inductively coupled plasma etching are employed to fabricate the fused-silica PBS grating. Experimental results of diffraction efficiencies approaching 80% for a TE-polarized wave in the -1st order and more than 85% for a TM-polarized wave in the 0th order were obtained at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Because of its compact structure and simple fabrication process, which is suitable for mass reproduction, a deep-etched fused-silica grating as a PBS should be a useful device for practical applications. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America

Modal analysis of deep-etched low-contrast two-port beam splitter grating

Modal analysis of a deep-etched low-contrast two-port beam splitter grating under Littrow Mounting is presented. The guideline for the design of a subwavelength transmission fused-silica phase grating as high-efficiency grating, polarizing beam splitter (PBS), and two-port beam splitter, is summarized. As an example, a polarization-independent two-port beam splitter grating is designed at wavelength of 1064 nm. We firstly analyzed the physical essence of the grating by the simplified modal method. The guideline for the grating design and the approximate grating parameters are obtained. Then using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) with parameters varying around the approximate ones, Optimum grating parameters can be determined. With the design guideline, the time for the rigorous calculation of the grating profile parameters can be reduced significantly. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Three-port beam splitter of a binary fused-silica grating

A deep-etched polarization-independent binary fused-silica phase grating as a three-port beam splitter is designed and manufactured. The grating profile is optimized by use of the rigorous coupled-wave analysis around the 785 nm wavelength. The physical explanation of the grating is illustrated by the modal method. Simple analytical expressions of the diffraction efficiencies and modal guidelines for the three-port beam splitter grating design are given. Holographic recording technology and inductively coupled plasma etching are used to manufacture the fused-silica grating. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical values. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.