Ultra-compact and polarization-insensitive silicon waveguide 3×3 star-crossing based on composite subwavelength grating metamaterials

We present what we believe is the first report on a polarization-insensitive 3 × 3 silicon star-crossing utilizing a composite subwavelength metamaterial waveguide structure. Two different types of subwavelength grating metamaterials (nanohole grating and fan-shaped bent subwavelength grating) are respectively used to address diffraction issues in the crossing region and mode interference issues caused by a compact non-adiabatic design. This approach results in a device with an ultra-compact footprint of 12.68 × 10.98 µm 2 on a standard 220 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. Simulation results show low insertion loss (IL) values of <0.2 dB/0.3 dB and suppressed cross talk (CT) levels of <−27.2 dB/−23.6 dB for TE/TM polarizations across a wavelength range of 100 nm (1500–1600 nm). Experimental measurements of the fabricated devices confirm outstanding performance, with IL values of <0.35 dB/0.4 dB and CT levels of <−31.5 dB/−28.6 dB for TE/TM polarization in the C-band.