Subwavelength-grating-assisted silicon polarization rotator covering all optical communication bands.

We propose an ultra-broadband and ultra-compact polarization rotator (PR) structure on the silicon-on-insulator platform. The subwavelength gratings (SWGs) are introduced at the waveguide corner in order to excite the hybridized modes and realize the polarization rotation. The dispersion-engineered SWG can dramatically reduce the polarization conversion length deviation. High polarization extinction ratio > 20 dB and low excess loss < 1 dB can be achieved over 1.26-1.675 μm wavelength range, which covers O-, E-, S-, C-, L-, and U-bands. The total device size is as small as 4.8 × 0.34 μm. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed structure is the first silicon PR that could cover all of the optical communication bands.