Polarization-insensitive reverse-ridge AlGaAs waveguide for the mid-infrared supercontinuum generation

In this paper, a polarization-insensitive reverse-ridge AlGaAs waveguide is designed for the supercontinuum generation. In the considered wavelength range from 3.4 to 8 μ m, the dispersion profiles, nonlinear coefficients, and effective mode field areas for the quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes coincide well. The simulation results show that when pump pulse with wavelength of 4.2 μ m, peak power of 4.8 kW, and width of 90 fs is launched into the anomalous dispersion region of the quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes of the 3.4-mm-long waveguide, the two generated SCs overlap well. For the quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes, the SCs generated extend from 2.17 to 8.53 μ m and 2.23 to 8.61 μ m, respectively, spanning more than 1.95 octaves. The proposed reverse-ridge AlGaAs waveguide structure is expected to provide a possible solution for alleviating the undesired polarization effect related to the nonlinear dynamics.