Tailoring the dispersion behavior of silicon nanophotonic slot waveguides.

We investigate the chromatic dispersion properties of silicon channel slot waveguides in a broad spectral region centered at ~1.5 μm. The variation of the dispersion profile as a function of the slot fill factor, i.e., the ratio between the slot and waveguide widths, is analyzed. Symmetric as well as asymmetric geometries are considered. In general, two different dispersion regimes are identified. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the zero and/or the peak dispersion wavelengths can be tailored by a careful control of the geometrical waveguide parameters including the cross-sectional area, the slot fill factor, and the slot asymmetry degree.