Symmetry-protected TM modes in optical rib-like waveguides with shallow etching

Lateral leakage of TM modes in dielectric optical waveguides of rib/ridge or strip-loaded types can be fully suppressed, if the waveguide core is formed not through a strip that protrudes at one side (up) from the remaining lateral guiding slab, but through parallel strips on both sides (up and down), such that the resulting cross section becomes vertically symmetric. The fairly general arguments underlying the leakage suppression apply to TM modes of all orders simultaneously, and are independent of wavelength. These plus-shaped waveguides support strictly guided, non-leaky TM modes for, in principle, arbitrarily shallow etching.