An ultracompact and efficient 1×2 splitter for submicrometer silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides using a star coupler is reported. The structure proposed here is decidedly smaller than the usual splitters such as multi-mode interference or Y-branch devices and much less sensitive to technological fluctuations. Design of the compact splitter is optimized at λ=1.31 μm with the effective-index method and a two-dimensional beam-propagation method. The excess losses are lower than 0.15 dB, and the dependence of the losses on wave-length between 1.23 and 1.63 μm is almost flat (variation less than 0.04 dB), which makes the device very interesting for coarse wavelength-division multiplexing applications within the silicon photonic technology.
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