Numerical characterization of nanopillar photonic crystal waveguides and directional couplers

We numerically characterize a novel type of a photonic crystal waveguide, which consists of several rows of periodically arranged dielectric cylinders. In such a nanopillar photonic crystal waveguide, light confinement is due to the total internal reflection. A nanopillar waveguide is a multimode waveguide, where the number of modes is equal to the number of rows building the waveguide. The strong coupling between individual waveguides leads to the proposal of an ultrashort directional coupler based on nanopillar waveguides. We present a systematic analysis of the dispersion and transmission efficiency of nanopillar photonic crystal waveguides and directional couplers. Plane wave expansion and finite difference time domain methods were used to characterize numerically nanopillar photonic crystal structures both in two- and three-dimensional spaces.     

Efficient input and output fiber coupling to a photonic crystal waveguide

The efficiency of evanescent coupling between a silica optical fiber taper and a silicon photonic crystal waveguide is studied. A high-reflectivity mirror on the end of the photonic crystal waveguide is used to recollect, in the backward-propagating fiber mode, the optical power that is initially coupled into the photonic crystal waveguide. An outcoupled power in the backward-propagating fiber mode of 88% of the input power is measured, corresponding to a lower bound on the coupler efficiency of 94%.     

二维光子晶体波导与单模平面介质波导间的喇叭波导接头

提出并优化了用于二维介质柱光子晶体波导与单模平面介质波导对接的基于分布布拉格反射波导的喇叭波导接头，提高了这两种波导之间的传输效率.二维时域有限差分仿真结果表明，在大部分光子晶体波导导模的频谱范围内，传输效率高于98％.传输效率最高可以达到99.85％. 关键词： 光子晶体波导 平面介质波导 时域有限差分     

用级联缓变结构实现光子晶体波导和传统波导的耦合

为了提高光子晶体波导与传统介质波导的耦合效率,设计了级联缓变结构.先将传统介质波导中的光耦合进尺寸相当的光子晶体W5波导中,然后W5波导中的光被耦合进尺寸较小些的W3波导中,最后光被耦合进尺寸最小的W1波导.各级波导之间由半径逐渐增大的空气孔连接,空气孔半径逐渐变化相当于波导有效折射率在变化,所以各级波导可以看作是被折射率缓变结构连接起来.由于折射率的缓变,使得光从前一级波导耦合进相邻的后一级波导时反射很小,从而能有效地提高耦合效率.数值计算表明,在光子晶体禁带范围内,除了波导有限长度和波导微小禁带造成的微小不通带外,耦合系数一般能达80%左右,最高可达到95%.     

并联谐振腔光子晶体单通道侧面耦合波导

分析了多光子晶体谐振腔的并联耦合模理论,并根据该理论设计了单通道光子晶体侧面耦合波导以实现光子晶体器件与光源间的高效耦合。理论研究表明并联谐振腔的耦合效率与谐振腔数量、间距以及品质因子相关。经优化耦合面积和耦合效率,最终选择了5个谐振腔并联作为单通道侧面耦合波导的耦合部分。通过设置谐振腔间距改变其对称性,从而实现侧面耦合波导的单通道传播。在1.55μm工作波长下,单通道侧面耦合波导的耦合效率可达94.49%。     

Adiabatic coupling between conventional dielectric waveguides and waveguides with discrete translational symmetry

We study adiabatic transformation in optical waveguides with discrete translational symmetry. We calculate the reflection and transmission coefficient for a structure consisting of a slab waveguide that is adiabatically transformed into a photonic crystal waveguide and then back into a slab waveguide. The calculation yields high transmission over a wide frequency range of the photonic crystal waveguide band and indicates efficient coupling between the slab waveguide and the photonic crystal waveguide. Other applications of adiabatic mode transformation in photonic crystal waveguides and the coupled-resonator optical waveguides are also discussed.     

光子晶体波导定向耦合器

在完整二维光子晶体中引入线缺陷后，就形成了光子晶体波导；将时域有限差分方法(FDTD)用于光子晶体波导耦合研究，计算了不同耦合长度情形下的波导各个出口处的透过率，结果表明：光子晶体波导耦合遵循普通介质波导耦合的一般规律，也有定向耦合的功能。进一步的研究表明：对于不同的频率，光子晶体定向耦合器耦合系数是不同的，并且耦合系数和对应的频率之间近似直线关系。     

Photonic crystal tapers for ultracompact mode conversion

We have studied the coupling of a classic ridge waveguide with a two-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) waveguide, using finite-difference time-domain calculations. The ridge waveguide exhibits only a weak refractive-index confinement of light, as it is commonly used in buried-heterostructure or ridge-waveguide lasers. The light is coupled to a PC waveguide that consists of one missing row along the ?K direction in a triangular lattice of air cylinders in AlGaAs. We compare various designs for PC tapers with that of a classic taper and for butt coupling. The calculation yields high coupling efficiency that exceeds 80% for a 2.5-microm-long PC taper. In addition, the dependence of the efficiency on the PC air-fill factor and on alignment tolerances is analyzed.     

点缺陷二维光子晶体波导的出射光集束

光子晶体器件在高密度集成光通信中有广泛的应用,为解决光子晶体波导出射光场的空间控制,采用时域有限差分法分析光子晶体波导结构的缺陷传播特性,提出基于点缺陷优化波导结构,通过在波导出射口两侧加上点缺陷,出射光方向性有显著提高,实现三点光源干涉系统的光集束。模拟结果表明缺陷态越靠近能带结构中央,共振腔的耦合效率越高;相反,缺陷态越靠近能带结构边缘位置,则共振腔耦合效率越低,因此,选取禁带区域四分之一处对应的点缺陷,可以有效实现波导出射的光集束。     

A photonic crystal side-coupled waveguide based on a high-quality-factor resonator array

Based on the present coupled mode theory of the photonic crystal resonator array in this paper,we propose a novel side-coupled waveguide to achieve highly efficient coupling of photonic crystal devices.It is found that the coupling efficiency is sensitive to the interval,the total number and the quality factor of the resonator.Considering the coupling efficiency and the coupling region,we select five resonators with an interval of six lattice periods.By optimizing the structure parameters of the waveguide and resonator,the quality factors of the resonator can be modulated and the coupling efficiency of the side-coupled waveguide reaches 95.47% in theory.Compared with other coupling methods,the side-coupled waveguide can realize efficient coupling with a compact structure,a high level of integration and a low degree of operational difficulties.     

Coupling into the slow light mode in slab-type photonic crystal waveguides

Coupling external light signals into a photonic crystal (PhC) waveguide becomes increasingly inefficient as the group velocity of the waveguiding mode slows down. We have systematically studied the efficiency of coupling in the slow light regime for samples with different truncations of the photonic lattice at the coupling interface between a strip waveguide and a PhC waveguide. An inverse power law dependence is found to best fit the experimental scaling of the coupling loss on the group index. Coupling efficiency is significantly improved up to group indices of 100 for a truncation of the lattice that favors the appearance of photonic surface states at the coupling interface in resonance with the slow light mode.     

基于硅纳米线波导的两级光子晶体缩束器

鉴于在微观领域光波的缩束对实现光电集成的重要意义,提出了基于硅纳米线波导的两级光子晶体缩束器。其中一级压缩基于W5型和W1型光子晶体波导间的高效耦合。二级压缩则由宽为0.1μm,长为3.06μm的纳米线波导和W1型光子晶体波导构成,通过二者的高效耦合实现光束压缩。当W1型光子晶体波导和纳米线波导间介质柱的半径为0.04μm时,对于1550nm波长的电磁波,缩束器的通光效率可达93.4%,压缩比为16.08,出射光束半峰全宽仅为0.148μm。     

A photonic crystal side-coupled waveguide based on a high-quality-factor resonator array

Based on the present coupled mode theory of the photonic crystal resonator array in this paper, we propose a novel side-coupled waveguide to achieve highly efficient coupling of photonic crystal devices. It is found that the coupling efficiency is sensitive to the interval, the total number and the quality factor of the resonator. Considering the coupling efficiency and the coupling region, we select five resonators with an interval of six lattice periods. By optimizing the structure parameters of the waveguide and resonator, the quality factors of the resonator can be modulated and the coupling efficiency of the side-coupled waveguide reaches 95.47% in theory. Compared with other coupling methods, the side-coupled waveguide can realize efficient coupling with a compact structure, a high level of integration and a low degree of operational difficulties.     

Numerical Analysis of Coupling between Two-Dimensional Conventional Dielectric Waveguides and Photonic Crystal Waveguide

A problem of coupling between conventional dielectric waveguides and a two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide is analyzed, using the Fourier series expansion method combined with the absorbing boundary condition of a perfectly matched layer (PML). A novel structure for the input and output ends of the photonic crystal waveguide is proposed to increase the coupling efficiency. Numerical examples are demonstrated and discussed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed structure.     

Single mode lasers based on monolithic integration of ridge waveguides with 2D photonic crystal waveguides

The monolithic combination of active light sources with photonic crystal (PC) waveguide components is a key building block for future highly integrated photonic circuits. We demonstrate the coupling of light from an InGaAs/AlGaAs ridge waveguide laser to a monolithically integrated 2D PC waveguide. The PC guide is formed by removing three or five rows in a triangular lattice of air rods etched into the semiconductor. A tapered ridge waveguide geometry is demonstrated to improve coupling efficiency, so that maximum output powers of up to 10 mW from the PC waveguide are achieved. The resulting coupled cavity laser shows single mode emission with side mode suppression ratios > 35 dB over a broad range of injection currents.     

二维三角晶格光子晶体波导的出射光集束传播

为了解决光子晶体波导出射端光场控制, 同时解决二维三角晶格光子晶体波导出射光辐射困难的问题。利用二维三角晶格光子晶体设计了一种新型光子晶体波导出射口结构。在二维三角晶格光子晶体波导出射端引入两个微腔, 通过光波与微腔发生共振, 形成类似于三个点光源干涉的出射光, 同时进一步提出波导出射端喇叭口干涉出射光定向辐射的设计。通过这种微腔喇叭口设计, 利用时域有限差分法分析结果表明光波实现很好的定向辐射, 并且辐射距离显著提高。     

二维异质结光子晶体中含近邻点缺陷的弯曲波导的可调谐滤波特性

应用时域有限差分(FDTD)法,对光在二维异质结光子晶体中含两个近邻点缺陷直角弯曲波导的传输特性进行了数值模拟研究。计算结果表明,具有特定本征共振频率的光子晶体微腔(点缺陷),可将在其邻近波导中传播的相同频率成分的光波"引入"到微腔中。"引入"的频率依赖于异质结光子晶体弯曲波导和微腔的参量,从而能够实现调变"引入"频率。通过改变点缺陷周围介质材料(液晶)的折射率或相关介质柱半径,可分别实现约31 nm或12 nm的波长调谐范围。计算结果为光通信中的调谐、上/下载滤波器,提供了一条新的设计思路和依据。     

Numerical studies of 2D photonic crystals: Waveguides,coupling between waveguides and filters

In photonic crystals, light propagation is forbidden in a certain wavelength range, the bandgap. In a two-dimensional crystal composed of parallel high-refractive index rods in a low-index background a line defect can be formed by removing a row of these rods, which can act as a waveguide for frequencies in the bandgap of the crystal. In order to get more insight into the main features of such waveguides we have studied a number of properties, using simulation tools based on the finite difference time domain method and a finite element Helmholtz solver. We show conceptually simple methods for determining the bandgap of the crystal as well as the dispersion of a waveguide for wavelengths in this bandgap. For practical applications, it is also important to know how much light can be coupled into the waveguide. Therefore, the coupling of light from a dielectric slab waveguide into the photonic crystal waveguide has been examined, showing that a coupling efficiency of up to 83% can be obtained between a silicon oxide slab and a waveguide in a crystal of silicon rods. Finally, calculations on an ultra-compact filter based on reflectively terminated side-branches of waveguides (similar to tuned stubs in microwave engineering) are shown and discussed.     

Efficient terahertz coupling lens based on planar photonic crystals on silicon on insulator

We present a promising coupling device, namely, a terahertz (THz) planar photonic crystal (PhC) lens based on the effective refractive-index contrast between the PhC and the surrounding unpatterned area. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain calculations show a 90% power transfer from a 100-microm silicon waveguide to a 10-microm waveguide, and 45% coupling efficiency is confirmed experimentally. These results demonstrate the utility of the PhC lens as an effective approach to coupling into PhC THz circuits.     

非线性一维光子晶体波导光双稳

利用非线性折射率系数较大且非线性时间响应较快的CdS_xSe_1-x玻璃为材料,设计并制备了非线性一维光子晶体波导光双稳器件,该器件的折射率空间分布呈正弦形式。实验测得双稳开关的阈值功率密度为1.60×10⁵W/cm²,开关时间为63ps。采用时域有限差分方法讨论了光子晶体带隙随入射光强变化而移动的情况,随着入射光功率密度的增加,光子晶体的带隙中心向短波方向移动。同时计算了该器件的双稳特性,理论计算得到双稳开关的阈值功率密度为1.40×10⁵W/cm²,开关时间约为50ps。获得了理论与实验基本一致的结果。