Spanidou, KalliopiOrbe Nava, Luis JorgeGonzález Guerrero, LuisHermann, DanCarpintero del Barrio, Guillermo2023-03-292023-03-292023-03-17Kalliopi Spanidou, et al. Cascaded directional coupler-based polarization splitter/combiner on commercial silicon photonics integration platform. In: Proceedings of the SPIE 12424, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVII, 1242407 (17 March 2023)0277-786Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/10016/37005Proceeding of: Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVII (SPIE OPTO 2023), 28 January-3 February, San Francisco, California, United StatesSilicon photonic (SiPho) platforms hold vast potential for providing multi-functional processing capabilities, such as filtering, mode-handling, modulation, etc. Structures for polarization manipulation have become essential elements to enhance channel capacity and to facilitate polarization multiplexing functions. Therefore, 1x2 polarization beam splitters (PBS) are introduced as polarization-division key building blocks based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform for separating/combining the fundamental modes. By cascading three bent directional couplers (DC), high-performance coupling characteristics can be obtained similar to those of asymmetric ones. A first-ever integration of this kind of PBS has been achieved utilizing Tower Semiconductor's PH18MA silicon photonics platform, which offers 180 nm SOI process technology. In this work, both output ports of the proposed PBS are being tested for polarization filtering across a polarization sweep. The advanced features of this integration process pave the way for next-generation coherent transceivers and aim to meet future optical interconnecting requirements. Furthermore, Synopsys OptoCompiler and the Photonic IC Design Flow, featured in Tower¿s process design kit (PDK), were used to design the devices.6eng© (2023) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).Polarization beam splitterSilicon photonicsPolarization-handlingCascaded directional couplersPhotonic integrationconference paperElectrónicaÓpticahttps://doi.org/10.1117/12.2649958open access112424076Proceedings of SPIE 12424 (Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXVII, SPIE OPTO 2023, 28 January-3 February, San Francisco, California, United States12424CC/0000034224