A NOVEL WIDE-ANGLE LOW-LOSS DIELECTRIC SLAB WAVE-GUIDE Y-BRANCH

A new Y-branch structure for dielectric waveguides is proposed and ana lysed using simple geometrical optics and beam propagation methods. It is shown both qualitatively and quantitatively that the proposed stru cture has larger branching angles but lower radiation loss than those associated with either conventional Y-branches or structures with ante nna coupled and phase front accelerators. The optimal design parameter s calculated by numerical simulations are in very good agreement with those found from the geometrical optics. The simulations also reveal t hat the performance is fairly insensitive to fabrication errors.