Optimized Design of Si 3 N 4 Structures for Photonic Integrated Data Compression Applications

An optimized design model ofMMI structures in silicon nitride (S$\mathrm{i}_{3}\mathrm{N}_{4}$) based platform for photonic integrated data compression applications is proposed. Three different MMI geometries were implemented to improve the overall building block (BB) performance. Excess loss (EL) below 0.004 dB and a footprint reduction up to 1/4 was obtained for the MMI BB with the best-optimized design. BB device reconfigurability for different coupling behaviors and fabrication tolerances (e.g., wavelength) was also investigated.