Damascene-patterned optical anisotropy in integrated photonics

We propose, simulate and experimentally demonstrate a method for realizing spatially-mapped birefringence onto integrated photonic devices and circuits. The fabrication method is based on applying a damascene-like process to dielectric film stacks to form anisotropic optical waveguides. An integrated polarizing beam-splitter (PBS) is realized with unprecedented performance: a record 0.52 octaves of fractional bandwidth (116 THz), maximum on-chip insertion loss of 1.4 +/- 0.8 dB, and a minimum extinction ratio of 16 +/- 3 dB, pushing it into the realm of wideband spectroscopy and imaging applications. Additionally, photonic structures such as polarization-selective beam-taps and polarization-selective microring resonators are demonstrated. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement