Abstract: An optical manipulator includes a first section for propagating an optical signal with multiple polarization modes including a transverse electric (TE) mode and a transverse magnetic (TM) mode and a second section for propagating separately the TE mode and the TM mode of the optical signal. The optical manipulator also includes a multi-mode interference (MMI) section having a groove with a first refractive index less than a second refractive index of the MMI section. The groove extends along an entire length of the MMI section to partition the MMI section into two connected channels including a first channel and a second channel. The first section is connected to the first channel and the second section is connected to both the first and the second channels.