Modelling and design of complete photonic band gaps in two-dimensional photonic crystals

In this paper, we investigate the existence and variation of complete photonic band gap size with the introduction of asymmetry in the constituent dielectric rods with honeycomb lattices in two-dimensional photonic crystals (PhC) using the plane-wave expansion (PWE) method. Two examples, one consisting of elliptical rods and the other comprising of rectangular rods in honeycomb lattices are considered with a view to estimate the design parameters for maximizing the complete photonic band gap. Further, it has been shown that complete photonic band gap size changes with the variation in the orientation angle of the constituent dielectric rods.      

All-optical switch based on photonic crystal microcavity with multi-resonant modes

We present a design of all-optical switches based on one-dimensional photonic crystals (1D PhC) doped with nonlinear optical materials. The 1D PhC switch structure is composed of a PhC cavity sandwiched by two accessional PhC microcavities. The center PhC cavity has two resonant frequencies with nearly the same quality factors (Q), while the accessional PhC cavities have the same resonant frequency, which is equal to one of the resonant frequencies of the center cavity. The two accessional PhC cavities cause reduction of Q value in this resonant frequency and result in different Q values of two modes. We realize all-optical switch effect by selecting pump light wavelength at the low Q mode and probe light wavelength at the other mode. The theoretical simulations by using the finite difference time domain method show that the pump light intensity required to realize optical switch effect in the designed switch is 50 times smaller than that in one-dimensional photonic crystals cavity with only one resonant mode.     

Intersecting veins effects of a two-dimensional photonic crystal with a large two-dimensional complete bandgap

Optimal design of a two-dimensional photonic crystal with a square lattice of dielectric rods with intersecting veins in GaAs is investigated numerically using plane wave expansion method. It is shown how a maximum complete two-dimensional bandgap is obtained by optimally connecting the dielectric rods with intersecting veins. The complete two-dimensional photonic bandgap (PBG) of our optimal design reaches Δω = 0.10664(2πc/a) (where a is the lattice constant and c is the speed of light in vacuum) when the radius of dielectric rod is 280.1 nm and the half-vein width is 60 nm. Our result shows 40% the width of PBG higher than that obtained from Ref. [M. Qiu, S. He, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 17 (2000) 1027] (Δω = 0.0762(2πc/a)). In addition, we found that the complete bandgap can be obtained in a large range of radius R of dielectric rod when the half width of intersecting veins d is larger than 65 nm.     

Design of high-Q cavities in 2D photonic crystals air holes filled with polymer

We design novel photonic crystal heterostructure, substituting the air in the holes with materials of refractive index higher than n = 1. This can be achieved by infiltrating the photonic crystal (PC) with polymer. We theoretically investigate the L₂ cavity with two missing holes in the center, where the six holes surrounding the cavity are locally filled with polymer. We show that cavity modes can be differently tuned depending on the size and the position of the first hole adjacent to the cavity. A photonic microcavity with a high Q factor of 5.5 × 10⁶ and a modal volume V of 0.1919 is demonstrated. We demonstrate that the calculated Q factor for the designed cavity increases by a factor of 22 relative to that for a cavity without displaced and reduced air holes, while the modal volume remains almost constant.     

Ultrahigh-Q of the L3 photonic crystal microcavity

In this paper, we theoretically investigate the L3 cavity with three missing holes in the center. They are of great interest for the realization of low threshold laser nanosources and for a strong interaction between the cavity and sources. In order to improve the transmission and Q factor simultaneously of these structure, by reducing unwanted reflection due to mismatch and through minimization of propagation losses, we modified L3 geometry: three missing holes in a line where both lateral displacement of the first hole adjacent to the cavity, d, and their radius, r, were changed. A photonic microcavity with a high Q factor of 1.8741 × 10⁷ and a modal volume V of 0.351 is demonstrated. We demonstrate that the calculated Q factor for the designed cavity increases by a factor of 49 relative to that for a cavity without displaced and reduced air holes, while the modal volume remains almost constant.     

A new design of tunable four-port wavelength demultiplexer by photonic crystal ring resonators

A four-channel wavelength demultiplexer based on photonic crystal ring resonators (PCRR), which can be used for photonic integrated circuits, is designed. Dropping efficiency and Q factor of single improved ring are 100% and 842, respectively. In order to achieve the structure of demultiplexer, three improved rings have been used, that every ring has an individual inner rod radius; it means that each ring has a varying resonant wavelength. The results of simulation using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method in our proposed structure reveals an average transmitted power higher than 90% for each output port, Channel spacing is about 8 nm and bandwidth for each individual channel is about 2.8 nm. The mean value of the crosstalk between output channels and the area of the proposed structure are about −29 dB and 317 μm², respectively. By changing the radius of inner rods, various wavelengths can be chosen, therefore this device is tunable.     

Realization of tunable optical filter by photonic crystal ring resonators

We have designed a tunable two dimensional (2D) channel drop filter (CDF) based on photonic crystal ring resonators (PCRR). Dropping efficiency and Q factor of single improved ring are 100% and 842, respectively. In this filter the quality factor is significantly improved with respect to other published reports. We investigate parameters which have an effect on resonant wavelength in this CDF, such as dielectric constant of inner, coupling, adjacent and whole rods of the structure and radius of inner rods. The transmission spectrum for our proposed configuration has been investigated using the 2D finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The area of the proposed structure is about 117 μm².     

Spectral narrowing and lasing threshold in self-assembled active photonic crystal

Laser-induced emission from rhodamine-B dye embedded in pseudo band gap opaline photonic crystals is discussed. The photonic crystals are fabricated using rhodamine-B doped polystyrene colloids and show 65% reflectance at the stop band centered at 604 nm. The reflectance of the crystal is increased to 74% by coating with a thin layer of gold. Both spontaneous and stimulated emissions of the dye are observed in the photonic stop band environment by exciting the crystal with the second harmonic (532 nm) of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The thin layer of gold functioned as a high reflecting end mirror to the dye-doped cavity when the crystal is pumped from the substrate side. Angle-dependent suppression at the stop band wavelength is observed in the spontaneous emission of the dye. Spectrally narrow stimulated emission and lasing is achieved in the gold coated dyed PhC at a threshold pump power of 60 mW in a selective direction of 22° from the direction of excitation. By studying emission from several photonic crystals with different number of layers, it is concluded that a sharp threshold for lasing is not observed in uncoated photonic crystals when they contained fewer than 30 ordered layers and lesser than 70% reflectance.     

在高频区存在巨带隙的长方晶格二维光子晶体

本文利用降低光子晶体的对称性来提高绝对禁带宽度, 提出两种长方结构长方介质柱二维光子晶体, 用快速平面波展开法研究其高频区的带结构.经参数优化发现, 长方晶格包含一套介质柱时, 最大绝对禁带宽度Δω为0.1265ωe（ωe=2πc/a, a为晶格常数, c为光速）, 绝对禁带中心频率ωmid为1.9256ωe, Δω/ωmid=6.6%; 当长方晶格包含两套介质柱时, 最大绝对禁带宽度为0.203ωe, 绝对禁带中心频率为1.8597ωe, Δω/ωmid=10.9%.     

Millimeter-scale self-collimation in planar photonic crystals fabricated by CMOS technology

We report self-collimating demonstration in planar photonic crystals (PhCs) fabricated in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers using 0.18 μm silicon complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) techniques. This process is original in the context of self-collimating PhC. Emphasis was on demonstrating self-collimation effect through the use of standard CMOS equipment and process development of an optical test chip using a high-volume manufacturing facility. The PhC were designed on 230 nm-top-Si layer using a square lattice of air-holes with 270 nm in diameter. The lattice constant of the PhC was 380 nm. The 1 mm self-collimation was observed at the wavelengths of 1620 nm.     

Genetic optimization of two-dimensional photonic crystals for large absolute band-gap

A genetic algorithm (GA) is used for the design of two-dimensional photonic crystals with large stop-bands. In this procedure, the unit cell of the crystal with square lattice is assumed to be composed of a number of Si round rods. And the key point to obtain maximum absolute band-gap is using the GA to optimize the radius and center position of each rod in unit cell. In the implementations of GA, the structure of each unit cell is represented by a binary string and the fitness (the absolute band-gap) for each unit cell is calculated by the plane-wave expansion (PWE) method. As numerical examples, we present several GA designs considering different number of round rods in the unit cell as well as the band-gap under the light line. The maximum absolute bandwidth of these optimized band-gaps is 0.1466(2πc/a).     

Fabrication and demonstration of square lattice two-dimensional rod-type photonic bandgap crystal optical intersections

This paper reports fabrication and demonstration of optical intersections in two-dimensional (2D) rod-type photonic crystal (PhC) structures. High resolution and aspect ratio 2D square lattice PhC waveguide intersections were designed and fabricated for application at the optical communication wavelengths centered at 1550 nm. In the silicon processing front, challenges resolved to overcome issues of drastically reduced process windows caused by the dense PhC rods arrays with critical dimensions (CDs) reduced to only a few hundred nanometers were addressed not only in terms of critical process flow design but also in the development of each processing module. In the lithographic process of deep ultraviolet laser system working at 248 nm, PhC rods of sub-lithographic wavelength CDs (115 nm in radii) were realized in high resolution, even near periphery regions where proximity errors were prone. In the deep etching module, stringent requirements on etch angle control and low sidewall scallops (undulations arising from time multiplexed etch and passivation actions) were satisfied, to prevent catastrophic etch failures, and enable optical quality facets. The successfully fabricated PhCs were also monolithically integrated with large scale optical testing fiber grooves that enabled macro optical fiber assisted coupling to the micro scale PhC devices. In the optical experiments, the transmission and crosstalk properties for the PhC intersection devices with different rod radii at the center of the PhC optical waveguides crossings were measured with repeatability. The properties of the PhC intersections were therefore optimized and verified to correspond well with first principle finite difference time domain simulations.     

Enhancement of room temperature sub-bandgap light emission from silicon photonic crystal nanocavity by Purcell effect

We report the enhancement of sub-bandgap photoluminescence from silicon via the Purcell effect. We couple the defect emission from silicon, which is believed to be due to hydrogen incorporation into the lattice, to a photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavity. We observe an up to 300-fold enhancement of the emission at room temperature at 1550 nm, as compared to an unpatterned sample, which is then comparable to the silicon band-edge emission. We discuss the possibility of enhancing this emission even further by introducing additional defects by ion implantation, or by treating the silicon PhC nanocavity with hydrogen plasma.     

Ultracompact refractive index sensor based on microcavity in the sandwiched photonic crystal waveguide structure

A refractive index (RI) sensor based on the two-dimensional photonic crystal is presented. The sensor is formed by a point-defect resonant cavity in the sandwiched waveguide structure. The transmission spectrums of the sensor with different ambient refractive indices ranging from n = 1.0 to n = 1.6 are calculated. The calculation results show that a change in ambient RI of Δn = 0.001 is apparent, the sensitivity of the sensor (Δλ/Δn) is achieved with 330 nm/RIU (when lattice constant a = 440 nm), where RIU means the refractive index unit; and the transmission efficiency in the RI range of 1.0-1.6 can reach about 40% to 70%, that make the detection of spectrum easy and feasible. The properties of the sensor are analyzed and calculated using the plane-wave expansion (PWE) method and simulated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method.     

Photonic band gap engineering in 2D photonic crystals

The polarization-dependent photonic band gaps (TM and TE polarizations) in two-dimensional photonic crystals with square lattices composed of air holes in dielectric and vice versa i.e., dielectric rods in air, using the plane-wave expansion method are investigated. We then study, how the photonic band gap size is affected by the changing ellipticity of the constituent air holes/dielectric rods. It is observed that the size of the photonic band gap changes with changing ellipticity of the constituent air holes/dielectric rods. Further, it is reported, how the photonic band gap size is affected by the change in the orientation of the constituent elliptical air holes/dielectric rods in 2D photonic crystals.     

Hybrid photonic crystal 1.31/1.55 μm wavelength division multiplexer based on coupled line defect channels

The objective of this paper is to investigate the implementation of a hybrid photonic crystal (PhC) 1.31/1.55 μm wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) and wavelength channel interleaver with channel spacing of roughly 0.8 nm between the operating wavelengths of 1.54-1.56 μm. It is based on 1-D photonic crystal (PhC) structure connected with an output 2-D PhC structure. The power transfer efficiency of the hybrid PhC WDM at 1.31 μm and 1.55 μm were computed by eigen-mode expansion (EME) method to be about 88% at both the wavelengths. The extinction ratios obtained for the 1.31 μm and 1.55 μm wavelengths are − 25.8 dB and − 22.9 dB respectively.     

Properties of the defect mode in one-dimensional ferroelectric Si/C60 photonic crystals

In the present paper, a novel photonic crystal (PC) defect mode is designed by inserting a ferroelectric material layer (LiNbO₃) into Si/C₆₀ one-dimensional PCs. The band structure of the ferroelectric PCs is numerically analyzed by the transfer matrix method (TMM). The width of the photonic band gap increases by 80 nm and a defect mode appears at a central wavelength of 680 nm when a 150 nm LiNbO₃ layer is inserted into the Si/C₆₀ PC structure. The defect mode in the band gap shifts linearly with the change in electric field. The defect mode shifts by 11.2 nm toward shorter wavelengths when the thin film is subjected to a DC voltage of 1 KV.     

Transmission characteristics simulation of an erbium-doped lithium niobate film photonic crystal slab

A photonic crystal slab (PhC slab) which was constructed as a 2D hexagonal lattice with a finite depth was etched into an Er:LiNbO₃ film waveguide. The band diagrams and transmission spectra were simulated by plane wave expansion (PWE) and the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. A high refractive index contrast of 0.5 enables strong light confinement in the vertical direction and a broad band gap. The simulated transmittance spectra indicate that the stop band is determined by lattice constant. The transmission spectra along ΓM of the PhC slab with a lattice constant 500 nm show a 250-nm broad stop band in the wavelength range from 1.33 to 1.58 μm and sharp band edge.     

3 dB power splitter design based on coupled cavity waveguides

Using numerical simulations, we investigated the transmission properties for coupled cavity waveguides form in two-dimensional photonic dielectric rods in air with square lattice. The dispersion for the coupled cavity waveguides with different radius of the defects is given. The optimum design waveguide should be perfect transmission for pulse though with a quasi-flat dispersion band. Based on the coupled cavity waveguides, a 3 dB power splitter is designed. Our results may have an important role in the design of efficient power splitters in a photonic circuit.