The multimode interference (MMI) couplers, which operate at 1. 55 microns in deep rib InGaAsP/InP waveguide with large lateral confinement and tunable power splitting ratios, are of high interest in integrated optics. The gold contacts are applied on the top of waveguides where tuning is desired and the plasma effect will lead to negative refractive index change. The three-dimensional (3D) finite difference beam propagation method(FD-BPM) is used to model the tunable MMI couplers. The length of a 2×2 overlap-MMI is determined by FD-BPM, so the longitudinal position of tuning spots is obtained. The position of gold contacts with two types, the edge-pads or center-pad, are also determined. In our design, the length of MMI is 180 microns. If the width of pads is 50 microns and the refractive index is tuned from 0 to -0.027, the power ratio is tuned from 50∶50 to the maximum 88.5∶11.4. For deep rib structure, the effective index(EI) method can not be used to simplify the 3D waveguide to plane waveguide because of its lower precision, and so the direct 3D FD-BPM simulation is necessary for the design of 3D MMI couplers.