三平行光子晶体单模波导的耦合特性及其应用

将三光子晶体单模波导的相互耦合看成一个多模干涉系统.本征模的色散曲线相交或近于相交并出现简并模，简并模之间存在强烈耦合并导致模式的分布方式发生转变.多模干涉系统中，不同波长的光波能量在传输过程中由于相干而具有不同的空间输出行为，在近简并点处多模之间的相干解除，能流限制在原输入方向，不发生转移.三光子晶体单模光波导的这种特性可用来制作波分复用或解复用器件. 关键词： 光子晶体波导 简并模 多模干涉 波分复用或解复用     

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.     

Experimental realization of highly efficient broadband coupling of single quantum dots to a photonic crystal waveguide

We present time-resolved spontaneous emission measurements of single quantum dots embedded in photonic crystal waveguides. Quantum dots that couple to a photonic crystal waveguide are found to decay up to 27 times faster than uncoupled quantum dots. From these measurements beta-factors of up to 0.89 are derived, and an unprecedented large bandwidth of 20 nm is demonstrated. This shows the promising potential of photonic crystal waveguides for efficient single-photon sources. The scaled frequency range over which the enhancement is observed is in excellent agreement with recent theoretical proposals taking into account that the light-matter coupling is strongly enhanced due to the significant slow-down of light in the photonic crystal waveguides.     

Ultracompact high-efficiency polarizing beam splitter with a hybrid photonic crystal and conventional waveguide structure

We propose an ultracompact high-efficiency polarizing beam splitter that operates over a wide wavelength range and is based on a hybrid photonic crystal and a conventional waveguide structure. Within a small area (15 microm x 10 microm), this polarizing beam splitter separates TM- and TE-polarized modes into orthogonal output waveguides. Results of simulations with the two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method show that 99.3% of TM-polarized light is deflected by the photonic crystal structure (with a 28.0-dB extinction ratio), whereas 99.0% of TE-polarized light propagates through the structure (with a 32.2-dB extinction ratio). Wave vector diagrams are employed to explain the operation of a polarizing beam splitter. Tolerance analysis reveals a large tolerance to fabrication errors.     

A three-channels WDM based on MMI in photonic crystal

A photonic crystal waveguide coupling structure can be constructed by putting three adjacent photonic crystal waveguides in parallel. Guided mode propagation method is employed to analyze the interference behavior of the approximate solution in such a coupling and the self-image phenomenon in multi-mode waveguides. A three-channel multimode interference wavelength division multiplexing can be obtained. The presented device has a high transmission rate as well as the advantage of multi-wavelength selection, thus it may have a potentially practical application in future photonic integrated circuit.     

光子晶体光纤和波导

文章简述了光子晶体光纤和光子晶体波导的类型,导光原理及制作方法等,展示了近年来它们的进展及重要的应用前景。     

光子晶体定向耦合三波长功分器

以二维三角晶格光子晶体为研究对象,在该光子晶体中引入两行以一行耦合介质柱为间距的平行单模线缺陷波导.通过分析和研究光子晶体波导耦合结构的耦合和解耦合特性,发现在不同频率下耦合波导的耦合长度不同.利用平面波展开法和定向耦合原理计算了在不同入射光频率下,缺陷波导间耦合波导的耦合长度,设计了一种新型超微光子晶体波导耦合型三波长功分器,实现了归一化频率分别为0.369、0.394、0.435的光波的分束效果.采用时域有限差分法验证了该功分器具有很好的功率分配效果.本文结果有助于光子晶体新型滤波器、定向耦合器、波分复用器、偏振光分束器以及光开关等光子器件的研究.     

Polarization-independent beam splitting by a photonic crystal right prism

Splitting of light waves by a two-dimensional photonic crystal associated with source size and dispersion relation of photonic crystal at a wavelength of 1,550 nm without disturbing periodicity is numerically demonstrated via finite-difference time-domain simulations. Split branches in either polarization state make plus or minus 45° with the [11] direction and propagate in a self-collimated manner with equal amplitude and phase. Sixty-four percent of total transmittance is attained provided that the waves are coupled and collected through appropriate planar waveguides. Alternatively, approximately 50 % total transmittance for both polarizations can be obtained by application of an anti-reflection coating layer at the input face. Polarization-independent beam splitting occurs in a narrow range around the target wavelength, while its transverse-magnetically polarized sub-harmonic can also be split. The photonic crystal can also operate as a polarizing splitter at oblique incidence.     

Wavelength switching by mode interference of coupled cavities with photonic crystal reflectors

We report the development of current-controlled widely tunable laser diodes based on InP with photonic crystal reflectors. The lasers consist of two longitudinally coupled and individually contacted segments that are coupled through photonic crystal sections. Two designs are presented, one based on a gain-coupled distributed feedback mechanism, the second based on contra-directional coupling of two photonic crystal waveguides. The emission wavelength can be switched quasi-continuously over a range around 53 nm for the first design. PACS 42.55.Px; 42.60.Da; 42.60.Fc; 42.25.Hz; 42.70.Qs     

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.     

Influences of supercell termination and lateral row number on the determination of slow light properties of photonic crystal waveguides

We systematically analyze the effects of the use of an inaccurate supercell termination and an insufficient supercell size of plane-wave expansion method on the dispersion and the slow light properties of the photonic crystal waveguides. The inattentive use of supercells of photonic crystal waveguides appeared in the literature is found to be yielding errors in the dispersion and slow light characteristics of the fundamental guided mode of photonic crystal waveguides. In addition, extra modes appear in the photonic band gap of the photonic crystal waveguide due to inaccurate supercell termination. By examining the field distribution of the modes, the extra modes can be determined and removed from the band diagram. The dispersion, group index and bandwidth characteristics are observed to be less affecting from inaccurate supercell termination as the number of rows adjacent to the waveguide increases. Moreover, the dispersion and the group index-frequency curves of the fundamental guided mode of correctly terminated supercells are found to be converging as the lateral row number along the line-defect is increased.     

Coupling into slow-mode photonic crystal waveguides

We study efficient injectors for coupling light from z-invariant ridge waveguides into slow Bloch modes of single-row defect photonic crystal waveguides. Two-dimensional vectorial computations performed with a Bloch mode theory approach predict that very high efficiencies (>90%) can be achieved for injector lengths of only a few wavelengths in length, even for small group velocities in the range of c/100-c/400. This result suggests that photonic crystal devices operating with slow waves can be interfaced with classical waveguides without sacrificing compactness.     

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.     

On‐chip single photon sources using planar photonic crystals and single quantum dots

We review the basic light‐matter interactions and optical properties of chip‐based single photon sources, that are enabled by integrating single quantum dots with planar photonic crystals. A theoretical framework is presented that allows one to connect to a wide range of quantum light propagation effects in a physically intuitive and straightforward way. We focus on the important mechanisms of enhanced spontaneous emission, and efficient photon extraction, using all‐integrated photonic crystal components including waveguides, cavities, quantum dots and output couplers. The limitations, challenges, and exciting prospects of developing on‐chip quantum light sources using integrated photonic crystal structures are discussed.     

The directional emission sensitivity of photonic crystal waveguides to air hole removal

To obtain highly directional light output from photonic crystal waveguides (PCWs), the emission characteristics of the narrow-width waveguide structures are investigated by tailoring the geometry of the exit sides. The local structural deformations in the form of air hole removal from the triangular-lattice photonic crystal (PC) show the effectiveness of the previously proposed approach that was implemented by us for another type of PC. The spatial broadening of the beam is greatly suppressed. With the modified waveguide exits, highly directional emissions with small side lobes are achieved. The frequency dependency of the directional emissions is evaluated. We show that the divergence angles of the beams depend linearly on the wavelength for a regular type of PCW but the modified PCW exits have local minima with respect to wavelength in terms of the divergence angle. The present work may prove to be helpful in the design of couplers and edge-emitting lasers and in the implementation of free-space optical communications.     

Silica glass bend waveguide assisted by two-dimensional photonic crystals

In this paper we report on the modeling of low index contrast silica glass 90° bend ridge waveguides assisted by a two-dimensional photonic crystal. A three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) based computer code has been used in order to evaluate the transmission characteristics and the in-plane losses of the investigated waveguides having different values of the bend radius. The performance of the bend structure surrounded by two-dimensional photonic crystals is compared to that of a classical bend ridge waveguide and the phenomenon of light confinement is critically analyzed. The device design is optimized for quasi-TM polarization at the wavelength of 1.3 μm.     

A compact wavelength division de-multiplexer based on directional coupling of one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides

A fundamental dual-channel wavelength division de-multiplexer (WDDM) based on directional coupling of one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides is presented, and its transmission characteristics of the WDDM are investigated by using finite-difference time-domain method. Calculated results indicate that for this WDDM, without any structural optimization, a high transmittance of more than 95% is observed at output ports. Combining the fundamental dual-channel WDDM with flexible bends of one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides, we construct a simple and compact four-channel WDDM. Those WDDMs are expected to be applied to highly dense photonic integrated circuits.     

Dual-frequency division de-multiplexer based on cascaded photonic crystal waveguides

A dual-frequency division de-multiplexing mechanism is demonstrated using cascaded photonic crystal waveguides with unequal waveguide widths. The de-multiplexing mechanism is based on the frequency shift of the waveguide bands for the unequal widths of the photonic crystal waveguides. The modulation in the waveguide bands is used for providing frequency selectivity to the system. The slow light regime of the waveguide bands is utilized for extracting the desired frequency bands from a wider photonic crystal waveguide that has a relatively larger group velocity than the main waveguide for the de-multiplexed frequencies. In other words, the wider spatial distribution of the electric fields in the transverse direction of the waveguide for slow light modes is utilized in order to achieve the dropping of the modes to the output channels. The spectral and spatial de-multiplexing features are numerically verified. It can be stated that the presented mechanism can be used to de-multiplex more than two frequency intervals by cascading new photonic crystal waveguides with properly selected widths.     

Silicon-based two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides

A review of the properties of silicon-based two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals is given, essentially infinite 2D photonic crystals made from macroporous silicon and photonic crystal slabs based on silicon-on-insulator basis. We discuss the bulk photonic crystal properties with particular attention to the light cone and its impact on the band structure. The application for wave guiding is discussed for both material systems, and compared to classical waveguides based on index-guiding. Losses of resonant waveguide modes above the light line are discussed in detail.     

Optical properties and photonic bands of GaAs photonic crystal waveguides with tilted square lattice

Reflectance measurements at variable angle of incidence are performed on GaAs photonic crystal waveguides with unconventional square lattices. The technique yields the dispersion of photonic bands for the investigated lattices, as first shown by Astratov et al. [Phys. Rev. B 60, R16225 (1999)]. A sample with a square lattice of air rings and small air fraction yields narrow resonant structures and a dispersion of photonic modes close to that of free photons. Another sample with a square lattice of dielectric squares and large air fraction leads to broader structures and to a dispersion of photonic modes which differs strongly for the two polarizations of light: this sample has a pseudo-gap around 1 micron wavelength. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical calculations of the reflectance and of the photonic mode dispersion in the photonic crystal slabs. Received 16 January 2002