Patent ID: 7373042

Claim:
A passive polarization sorter for sorting light having a TE polarized mode and a TM polarized mode, comprising: a first waveguide defining a first input and a first output of the passive polarization sorter, the first waveguide supporting at least one first guided TE polarized mode, and at least one first guided TM polarized mode at the first input of the passive polarization sorter; and a second waveguide defining a second input and a second output of the passive polarization sorter, the first and second inputs of the passive polarization sorter being separate, the second waveguide supporting a second guided TE polarized mode, and a second guided TM polarized mode at the second input of the passive polarization sorter, a portion of the first waveguide and a portion of the second waveguide defining an adiabatic region in which light having one of the TE polarized mode and the TM polarized mode remains within the one of the first and second waveguides in which the light was introduced, and light having the other one of the TE polarized mode and the TM polarized mode evanescently couples into the other one of the first and second waveguides.