Patent ID: 7343070

Claim:
A splitter comprising: a substantially single-mode input waveguide; at least two output waveguides; and a non-adiabatic tapered waveguide optically coupled between the input waveguide and the output waveguides; said waveguides being formed on a substrate; wherein the non-adiabatic tapered waveguide, along at least a portion of its length, widens in width towards the output waveguides, in a plane parallel to the substrate, the non-adiabatic tapered waveguide merges substantially continuously with the input waveguide in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the input waveguide, and the non-adiabatic tapered waveguide has a shape that forms a double-peaked field at the junction between the tapered waveguide and the output waveguides, each of the peaks entering a respective one of the output waveguides.