Inverse design of highly efficient and broadband mode splitter on SOI platform

Mode splitters that directly separate modes without changing their orders are highly promising to improve the flexibility of the mode-division multiplexing systems. In this paper, we design a high-performance mode splitter on the silicon-on-insulator platform with a compact footprint of 14 µm× 2.5 µm using an inverse design method based on shape optimization. The fabrication of this mode splitter requires only a single lithography step and exhibits good fabrication tolerances. The experimental results show that the proposed device exhibits state-of-the-art insertion loss (<0.9 dB) and cross talk (<-16 dB) over a broad bandwidth (1500–1600 nm). Furthermore, the shape optimization method used is implemented to design a dual-mode (de)multiplexer, and the experimental results fulfill the design objective, demonstrating the excellent generality of the design method in this paper.