Measurement of small birefringence and loss in a nonlinear single-mode waveguide

Abstract

We design and fabricate a birefringent semiconductor waveguide for application to nonlinear photonics, demonstrating that it is possible to engineer a small birefringence into such a device using multiple core layers. We also demonstrate a simple technique to accurately determine small waveguide birefringence using a differential measurement, present useful methods for coupling light into and out of the device, and make estimates of coupling and linear device losses.