Compact dual-mode waveguide crossing based on adjoint shape optimization

Abstract

We design, fabricate, and characterize a compact dual-mode waveguide crossing on a silicon-on-insulator platform. The dual-mode waveguide crossing with high performance is designed by utilizing the adjoint shape optimization. This adjoint-method-based optimization algorithm is computationally efficient and yields the optimal solution in fewer iterations compared with other iterative schemes. Our proposed dual-mode waveguide crossing exhibits low insertion loss and low crosstalk. Experimental results show that the insertion losses at the wavelength of 1550 nm are 0.83 dB and 0.50 dB for TE₀ and TE₁ modes, respectively. The crosstalk is less than -20 dB for the two modes over a wavelength range of 80 nm. The footprint of the whole structure is only 5 × 5 μm².