Compact polarization rotator based on SOI platform

A compact, easy-to-fabricate polarization rotator design based on silicon on insulator (SOI) platform is introduced and validated. Breaking the symmetry of the commonly used silicon nanowires, mode hybridness could be maximized until polarization rotation is achieved with a high efficiency. The reported asymmetric polarization rotator is very compact with length of only 4.62 μπι. It can achieve high conversion efficiency (> 97%) over a wide bandwidth (290 nm) centered around wavelength, λ, of 1.55 μm. The fabrication of the introduced polarization rotator is compatible with standard CMOS fabrication technologies which makes its fabrication a straight forward process.