Ultra-broadband mid-infrared Ge-on-Si waveguide polarization rotator

The design, modeling, micro-fabrication, and characterization of an ultra-broadband Ge-on-Si waveguide polarization rotator are presented. The polarization rotator is based on the mode evolution approach where adiabatic symmetric and anti-symmetric tapers are utilized to convert from the fundamental transverse magnetic to electric mode. The device is shown to be extremely fabrication tolerant and simple to fabricate. The fabricated devices demonstrate a polarization extinction ratio of ≥15 dB over a 2 μm bandwidth (9-11 μm wavelength) with an average insertion loss of <1 dB, which is an order of magnitude improvement compared to previously demonstrated devices. This device will provide polarization flexibility when integrating quantum cascade lasers on-chip for mid-infrared waveguide molecular spectroscopy.