Abstract
We report the detailed numerical investigation of stress-induced material
birefringence in polymer rib waveguide for the design of nonbirefringent
waveguide devices. To accurately simulate the stress-induced effects we
propose a more realistic model in the finite element analysis which
considers the stresses induced over the entire sequential fabrication
process. It is observed that the birefringence is nonuniform, and it is
different for different etch depth and core width. The maximum birefringence
in the core layer is observed near the lower cladding which decreases to
zero toward the top surface. The influence of this material anisotropy on
the modal birefringence is analyzed also for different rib structures. We
found the stress effects on the modal birefringence to be largely affected
by etch depth, while core width has small effect. It is also found that the
deeply etched core has better birefringence stability. Finally, an accurate
design of the zero-birefringence waveguide is illustrated by taking the
stress effects into account, and the results are compared with experimental
data. Excellent agreement between calculated and experimental results
confirms the potential application of this work to aid in the design of
polarization-insensitive waveguide devices.
© 2009 IEEE
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