US Patent 9869816 Light combining/dividing element and light modulator

Provided is a light combining/dividing element which allows generation of reflected light to be suppressed, as compared with a conventional light combining/dividing element. A core of the light combining/dividing element includes an MMI part which is connected to a first core and to each of a second core and a third core. A width of a rib of a rib waveguide of the MMI part becomes narrower from a width equal to that of a channel waveguide to a width equal to that of the first core.