Integrated InP polarization rotator using the plasmonic effect.

we report on an integrated InP based polarization rotator scheme using the plasmonic effect. It operates as a half-wave retarder in ridge waveguide structure. The rotation angle of the eigenmode axes of the half-wave retarder waveguide is determined by the position off a bottom corner of a metal layer placed above the waveguide core in the upper cladding region. The simple rotator structure enables an easy and tolerant fabrication process. The length of the fabricated device is less than 50 μm, and a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of 20 dB has been achieved.