A three-waveguide polarization independent power splitter on lithium niobate substrate

A three-waveguide polarization independent power splitter on LiNbO3 substra te is proposed and demonstrated. Splitting ratio between the output ports a nd the excess loss of the device are found independent of the polarization states of the input light. The measured imbalance of the output power level s and the average excess loss of a 1 X 2 polarization independent power spl itter are 0.2 dB and 0.58 dB, respectively. The device can be cascaded in t ree-structure to fabricate 1 X 2(N) power splitters which are important in optical communication networks. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r eserved.