Novel multimode interference devices for low index contrast materials systems featuring deeply etched air trenches

A novel design of multimode interference (MMI) device is proposed for photonic integrated circuits fabricated in low index contrast materials. In this design, deeply etched air trenches are used to define the boundaries of the multimode section to achieve strong lateral confinement. This results in superior imaging quality and therefore lower loss and imbalance, which can only be achieved in strongly guiding MMIs. However, the access waveguides remain weakly guiding, which is essential for low loss fibre connection. We demonstrate the merit of the design in 1 × 4 MMI power splitters. By introducing air trenches, loss decreases from 0.45 to 0.053 dB and imbalance decreases from 0.15 to 0.058 dB for TE polarization. For TM polarization, loss decreases from 0.46 to 0.003 dB and imbalance decreases from 0.16 to 0.067 dB.