The present disclosure provides a system, apparatus and method to for providing highly manufacturable compact optical structures in optical circuits, increasing overall yield and lowering manufacturing costs. According to one aspect, an optical circuit is provided which includes an multimode interference element and first and second waveguides. The first waveguide may be provided adjacent a first side of the optical device and extending along at least the length of the multimode interference element, while the second waveguide may be provided adjacent a second side of the multimode interference element and extending along at least the length of the optical device. Each of the first and second waveguide have first and second ends which may be configured to dissipate propagating light in the first and second waveguides. The first waveguide may be spaced a first distance from the multimode interference element, the first distance being substantially constant along the length of the multimode interference element, and the second waveguide may be spaced a second distance from the multimode interference element, the second distance being substantially constant along the length of the multimode interference element. The first and second distances may be selected such that the first and second waveguides provide sufficient fabrication loading to maintain a width of the optical device along, a length of the optical device, within a deviation or range of values. In certain embodiments, the multimode interference element may be a multimode interference optical coupler.