Broadband 8 μm long hybrid silicon-plasmonic transverse magnetic-transverse electric converter with losses below 2 dB.

A novel ultracompact (8 μm length) hybrid silicon-plasmonic TM-TE converter is reported. The conversion is achieved during a partial power coupling between a waveguide and a hybrid plasmonic parallel waveguide. The impact of different types of metals is also analyzed. At a wavelength of 1.55 μm, the device has an extinction ratio (ER) of 27.6 dB and insertion loss (IL) of 1.75 dB. Furthermore, an optical bandwidth as large as 100 nm is achieved with ERs higher than 25 dB and ILs below 2 dB.