LAUSR

Abstract Group velocity dispersion characteristics of rib-type photonic wire(PW) based on LiNbO3 on insulator(LNOI) were studied theoretically. The study focuses on flexibility in dispersion tailoring, zero dispersion, dispersion flatness and zero modal birefringence(ZMB). The results show that the LNOI PW is more flexible in dispersion tailoring than the conventional Ti-diffused LiNbO3 waveguide and Si-on-Insulator (SOI) PW. Zero dispersion at 1.55 μm wavelength can be realized for both TE and TM modes. Zero dispersion wavelength shows definite polarization dependence. It can be tailored by adjusting the rib height. For a TE mode guided in a appropriately designed LNOI PW, zero dispersion can be realized in a broad wavelength range of 1.3–1.7 μm. The TE mode is thus more suitable for dispersion flatness application. The dispersion flatness of the LNOI PW is one order of magnitude better than that of the SOI PW. In contrast, the TM mode is more suitable for dispersion engineering as it shows more significant dispersion feature. ZMB can be realized by adopting an X-cut/Y-propagation scheme. A PW geometry for simultaneous realization of single-mode operation and ZMB is presented.