Ultralow-loss silicon waveguide crossing using Bloch modes in index-engineered cascaded multimode-interference couplers

We investigate the loss mechanism in three-moded multimode-interference couplers that are the building blocks of a compact and low-loss waveguide crossing structure. Broadband silicon waveguide crossing arrays with <0.01 dB insertion loss per crossing are proposed using cascaded multimode-interference couplers, where lateral subwavelength nanostructures are used to reduce the insertions loss. We design and fabricate a 101 × 101 waveguide crossing array with a pitch of 3.08 μm. Insertion loss of ∼0.02 dB per crossing and crosstalk < - 40 dB at 1550 nm operating wavelength and a broad transmission spectrum ranging from 1520 to 1610 nm are experimentally demonstrated.