# PLC-Based Polymer/Silica Hybrid Inverted Ridge LP11 Mode Rotator

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new mode rotator for photonic circuits that efficiently converts light modes with high efficiency and broad bandwidth.

## Contribution

A novel polymer/silica hybrid inverted ridge waveguide design for efficient LP11 mode conversion in photonic integrated circuits.

## Key findings

- The mode rotator achieves over 98.5% conversion efficiency across the C-band.
- The highest mode conversion efficiency reaches 99.2% at 1550 nm.
- The design allows for large fabrication tolerance suitable for on-chip MDM systems.

## Abstract

The mode rotator is an important component in a PLC-based mode-division multiplexing (MDM) system, which is used to implement high-order modes with vertical intensity peaks, such as LP11b mode conversions from LP11a in PLC chips. In this paper, an LP11 mode rotator based on a polymer/silica hybrid inverted ridge waveguide is demonstrated. The proposed mode rotator is composed of an asymmetrical waveguide with a trench. According to the simulation results, the broadband conversion efficiency between the LP11a and LP11b modes is greater than 98.5%, covering the C-band after optimization. The highest mode conversion efficiency (MCE) is 99.2% at 1550 nm. The large fabrication tolerance of the proposed rotator enables its wide application in on-chip MDM systems.