Integrating liquid crystal based optical devices in photonic crystal fibers

Liquid crystal photonic bandgap fibers form a versatile and robust platform for designing optical fiber devices, which are highly tunable and exhibit novel optical properties for manipulation of guided light. We present fiber devices for spectral filtering and polarization control/analysis.     

Improved Dirichlet-to-Neumann map method for modeling extended photonic crystal devices

A typical photonic crystal (PhC) device has only a small number of distinct unit cells. The Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) map of a unit cell is an operator that maps the wave field to its normal derivative on the boundary of the cell. Based on the DtN maps of the unit cells, a PhC device can be efficiently analyzed by solving the wave field only on edges of the unit cells. In this paper, the DtN map method is further improved by an operator marching method assuming that a main propagation direction can be identified in at least part of the device. A Bloch mode expansion method is also developed for structures exhibiting partial periodicity. Both methods are formulated on a set of curves for maximum flexibility. Numerical examples are used to illustrate the efficiency of the improved DtN map method.     

Influence of a holey cladding structure on spectral characteristics of side-polished endlessly single-mode photonic crystal fibers

We experimentally investigate the spectral characteristics of side-polished endlessly single-mode photonic crystal fibers of different polishing depths and radii of curvature that are important to mode field diameter, evanescent coupling, waveguide losses, higher-order mode excitation, and dispersion slopes of photonic crystal fiber components. A polished photonic crystal fiber with a greater polishing depth or a larger radius of curvature shows a more dispersive characteristic. In contrast to conventional single-mode fibers, in photonic crystal fibers the evanescent field is more strongly localized, and the propagating light can be more efficiently guided within the deformed core.     

Ultrafast photonic crystal optical switching

Photonic crystal, a novel and artificial photonic material with periodic dielectric distribution, possesses photonic bandgap and can control the propagation states of photons. Photonic crystal has been considered to be a promising candidate for the future integrated photonic devices. The properties and the fabrication method of photonic crystal are expounded. The progresses of the study of ultrafast photonic crystal optical switching are discussed in detail.     

Complete leaky mode coupling in dual-core photonic crystal fibre based on the coupled-mode theory

This paper theoretically investigates the dependence of leaky mode coupling between inner core fundamental mode and outer core defect mode on phase and loss matching in pure silica dual-core photonic crystal fibres with the multi-pole method. The complete mode coupling can take place when both the phase and loss matching conditions are satisfied at the avoided anti-crossing wavelength. It shows the influences of cladding structure parameters including the diameters of cladding air holes d₁, diameters of outer core holes d₂ and hole to hole pitch Λ on the characteristics of leaky modes coupling. The coupled-mode theory is used to analyse the mode transition characteristics and the complete coupling can be clearly indicated by comparing the real and imaginary parts of propagation constant of the leaky modes.     

Transmission characteristics of photonic crystal waveguides with stubs and their application to optical filters

We study the transmission characteristics of a photonic crystal waveguide with a single stub of a finite length and propose a double-stub waveguide structure for its application to optical filters. The proposed device operates as a Fabry-Perot interferometer and can be used as a broad bandstop filter and a narrow bandpass filter. These filters are inherently compact and their center frequency is given by the resonant frequency of the stub.     

Rod type photonic crystal optical line defect waveguides with optical modulations

This paper reports the design and principles of two dimensional rod-type photonic crystal (PhC) line defect waveguides for bandgap based optical waveguiding, static modulation and high speed dynamic optical switchings. Experiments were carried out for both high aspect ratio and slab type configurations. The differences in waveguiding mechanisms for the two configurations resulting from the presence of bottom cladding systems, without out-of-plane symmetries are compared for their advantages and disadvantages. In particular, the designs of non-top-clad optical waveguides of layout sizes within micrometers and operational frequencies centered at the optical communication wavelength of 1550 nm, were investigated for the feasibility of large scale integration by batch fabrication process techniques – such as sub-micrometer optical lithography etc. Based on such techniques, specifically designed dispersions of line defect PhC waveguides within a missing row of PhC rods were accompanied by optical testing structures of suitable coupling modes. Optical measurements of waveguiding coefficients were therefore enabled for the different configurations, together with further static and dynamic modulations. PACS 42.70.Qs     

Antiresonant reflecting photonic crystal optical waveguides

We propose a simple analytical theory for low-index core photonic bandgap optical waveguides based on an antiresonant reflecting guidance mechanism. We identify a new regime of guidance in which the spectral properties of these structures are largely determined by the thickness of the high-index layers and the refractive-index contrast and are not particularly sensitive to the period of the cladding layers. The attenuation properties are controlled by the number of high/low-index cladding layers. Numerical simulations with the beam propagation method confirm the predictions of the analytical model. We discuss the implications of the results for photonic bandgap fibers.     

Vertically coupled photonic crystal optical filters

A novel design of optical filters, based on the vertical coupling between channel waveguides and photonic crystal microcavities, is proposed. The choice of channel waveguides can be arbitrary because of the flexibility of the device geometry, which makes it possible to utilize conventional low-loss waveguides. The separation between waveguides and microcavities, which determines filter bandwidths and drop efficiencies, can be accurately controlled by material growth (or deposition). The filters might also be switchable, e.g., by mechanical movements of microcavities. An example of a reflection-type optical filter is demonstrated in numerical experiments using the finite-difference time-domain method.     

Method for sensitivity analysis of photonic crystal devices

We present a new method for sensitivity analysis of photonic crystal devices. The algorithm is based on a finite-difference frequency-domain model and uses the adjoint variable method and perturbation theory techniques. We show that our method is highly efficient and accurate and can be applied to calculation of the sensitivity of transmission parameters of resonant nanophotonic devices.     

光子晶体集成光电子器件

文章简要介绍了利用光子晶体实现微纳尺度上光调控的物理原理和工作机制,重点讨论了如何利用光子晶体的缺陷态实现微纳尺度的各种集成光电子器件,并结合文章作者所在研究组的研究工作经验,简单回顾了各种类型的集成光电子器件的工作原理、物理实现和光学特性.     

光子晶体集成光电子器件

文章简要介绍了利用光子晶体实现微纳尺度上光调控的物理原理和工作机制,重点讨论了如何利用光子晶体的缺陷态实现微纳尺度的各种集成光电子器件,并结合文章作者所在研究组的研究工作经验,简单回顾了各种类型的集成光电子器件的工作原理、物理实现和光学特性.     

Photonic band gap failure in photonic crystal devices

The photonic crystal is an artificial material with periodic dielectric constant and the key factor to preserve their band features is its periodicity. When the number of periods of photonic crystal is decreased the photonic band gap cannot prevent the light of the corresponding frequencies from propagating in photonic crystal, in another word, photonic band gap will be failure. The minimum periods of photonic crystal device which can keep photonic band gap effective in miniaturization process is analyzed, the transmittance spectrum is calculated by the Finite-difference time-domain algorithm (FDTD) [1], the minimum periods is got in the simulation and the reason which affects the minimum periods is analyzed in this paper.     

Silicon photonic crystal filter with ultrawide passband characteristics

We report on what is believed to be the first example of an ultrawide, bandpass filter, based on a high-contrast multicomponent one-dimensional Si photonic crystal (PC). The effect of the disappearance of a limited number of flat stopbands and their replacement with extended passbands is demonstrated over a wide IR range. The passbands obtained exhibit a high transmission of 92% to 96% and a substantial bandwidth of 1800 nm, which is spectrally flat within the passband. The multicomponent PC model suggested can be applied to the design of any micro- or nanostructured semiconductor or dielectric material for application across a wide spectral range.     

Nonlinear photonic crystal microdevices for optical integration

A four-port nonlinear photonic crystal system is discussed that exhibits optical bistability with negligible backscattering to the inputs, making it particularly suitable for integration with other active devices on the same chip. Devices based on this system can be made to be small [O(lambda3)] in volume, have a nearly instantaneous response, and consume only a few milliwatts of power. Among many possible applications, we focus on an all-optical transistor and integrated optical isolation.     

Theoretical study on photonic devices based on a commensurate two-pattern photonic crystal

In two-dimensional optical chip applications, the optical wave is classified to two modes according to its polarization: TE and TM. It is desirable to integrate multiple optical wave control devices for different polarizations onto the same plane at the scale of the wavelength. Here we demonstrate a periodic two-pattern photonic crystal with a large, complete photonic bandgap (PBG). It comes from the superposition of two substructures: one contributes the TM PBG and the other contributes the TE PBG. By purposely introducing defects into the substructures, photonic devices for different polarizations can be integrated to bend, split, and resonate TM/TE waves simultaneously on the same plane.     

向列相液晶缺陷光子晶体透射光谱偏振敏感特性研究

研究了向列相液晶缺陷TiO2和SiO2交替的光学多层膜一维光子晶体透射谱偏振敏感特性。外电压下透射光谱测试和模拟结果显示,对于平行取向的向列相液晶,当自然光垂直入射时,禁带中两处出现e(TE模式)光和o光(TM模式)透射峰,具有偏振敏感性。随着电压增大,e光透射峰蓝移与o光透射峰合二为一,光谱可调谐范围分别为31和34nm;而对于取向混乱的向列相液晶,禁带中两处出现独立的透射峰,无偏振敏感性。随着电压增大峰位也蓝移,光谱可调谐范围分别为64和15nm。通过混乱取向液晶分子,可以使o光和e光有效折射率值相等,获得偏振不敏感特性。     

Analysis of photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with nematic liquid crystal

The spectral characteristic of a nematic liquid crystal photonic crystal fiber is analyzed. The locations of the transmission minima in the transmission spectrum can be evaluated by examining the modal cutoffs of specific modes in the liquid crystal inclusion. The selection criteria for these specific modes are based on the fraction of power residing in the core. Explicit expressions for these modal cutoffs are also derived.     

二维光子晶体禁带特性研究

采用平面波展开法对二维光子晶体分别在E和H极化下的带隙进行了计算. 考虑了填充比、晶格结构、介电常数对最大绝对帯隙的影响. 结果表明,不论是正方晶格还是三角晶格,TM模在介质柱型光子晶体中更容易形成带隙;TE模在空气孔型光子晶体中更容易形成带隙. 填充比一定,最大绝对帯隙宽度并非随着介电常数增大总是增大,而是存在一个峰值. 相对介电常数一定,最大绝对帯隙宽度随填充比的变化也存在一个峰值. 不论空气孔型还是介质柱型结构,三角晶格比正方晶格更容易形成帯隙. 关键词： 平面波展开法 TE模 TM模 最大绝对帯隙