Numerical and experimental investigation of 2 x 2 multimode interference couplers in silica-on-silicon

In this paper we examine, theoretically as well as experimentally, the influence of a number of design parameters for a 2 x 2 multimode interference (MMI) coupler. We confirm that wide access waveguides are preferable but these should not exceed the width of the MMI. It is shown that the waveguide separation can be chosen in a reasonably wide range and that MMI's can be as short as directional couplers. That the imbalance is less than 0.2 dB if the length is within 5% of the optimum. Experimentally we observe the same variation, but at an imbalance of 0.6 dB. We show that this imbalance can be explained by a stress induced parabolic non-uniformity of the refractive index of the core across the MMI width with a peak variation of 5 x 10(-5).