Design and analysis of a wideband photonic crystal waveguide with low group-velocity and low dispersion

The slow light propagation in a line waveguide in the two-dimensional triangular photonic crystal has been numerically studied, based on which a wideband photonic crystal waveguide with low group-velocity and low dispersion is proposed. The numerical simulation analysis shows that it is possible to maximize the group index and minimize the group-velocity dispersion in wide bandwidth by increasing the radius of the basic air hole and changing the position of the first two rows of air holes in photonic crysta...     

Slow light engineering in a photonic crystal slab waveguide through optofluidic infiltration and geometric modulation

In this paper, a new type of flat-band slow light structure with high group index (n _g) and large normalized delay-bandwidth product (NDBP) in a silicon on insulator (SOI) based photonic crystal (PC) slab waveguide with a triangular lattice of circular holes is demonstrated. The dispersion engineering is performed by infiltrating optical fluids with different refractive indices n _f in the first row and shifting the second row of air holes adjacent to the PC waveguide (PCW) in the longitudinal direction. In the optimized case, a high NDBP of 0.32 with a group index of 54.55 and a bandwidth of 9.13 nm could be obtained. Furthermore, an ultra-low group velocity dispersion (GVD) in the range of 10^–20 s²/m is achieved in all of the structures. These results are obtained by numerical simulations based on three-dimensional (3D) plane wave expansion (PWE) method.     

A systematic analysis of hole size,hole-type and rows shifting on slow light characteristics of photonic crystal waveguides with ring-shaped holes

A photonic crystal waveguide embedded in silica is proposed and the effects of number of defect rows adjacent to the line-defect, number of rows shifted in transverse direction to the light propagation and the types of holes in these rows on slow light properties are investigated without changing the line-width by plane-wave expansion method. We observe that the structure with one row of ring-shaped holes exhibits better slow light properties than the structure with two and three innermost rows of ring-shaped holes when outer and inner radius of the holes are considered as free parameters. Shifting the second innermost rows of holes is found to be preferable than shifting the second innermost rows of rings. Besides, shifting the second and third innermost rows together does not make considerable enhancement on the slow light properties as shifting only the second innermost rows, no matter the shifting holes are ring-shaped holes or only holes.     

Nonlinear performance in silicon nitride slow light photonic crystal waveguides with elliptical holes

We propose a slow-light photonic crystal waveguide, which uses a combination of circular and elliptical air holes arranged in a hexagonal lattice with the background material of silicon nitride (refractive index n = 2.06). Large value of normalized delay bandwidth product (NDBP = 0.3708) is obtained. We have analyzed nonlinear performance of the structure. With our proposed geometry strong SPM is observed at moderate peak power levels. Proposed photonic crystal waveguide has slow light applications such as reduction in length and power consumption of all-optical and electro-optic switches at optical frequency.     

Tunable properties of light propagation in photonic liquid crystal fibers

Tunable properties of light propagation in photonic crystal fibers filled with liquid crystals, called photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs) are presented. The propagation properties of PLCFs strongly depend on contrast between refractive indices of the solid core (pure silica glass) and liquid crystals (LCs) filing the holes of the fiber. Due to relatively strong thermo-optical effect, we can change the refractive index of the LC by changing its temperature. Numerical analysis of light propagation in PLCF, based on two simulation methods, such as finite difference (FD) and multipole method (MM) is presented. The numerical results obtained are in good agreement with our earlier experimental results presented elsewhere [1].     

Photonic crystal slow light waveguides with large delay–bandwidth product

In this paper, we propose the use of two two-dimensional photonic crystal line defect waveguides for slow light with large delay–bandwidth product (DBP). One includes air rings localized at each side of the line defect and the other modifies the radius and distance of holes at each side of the waveguide. We show that we can achieve a very flat band corresponding to nearly constant group index over a broad frequency range by adjusting the parameters of the structure. We show further that the group velocity dispersion (GVD) can reach a relatively small amount and the DBP can be more than 0.6 for the first waveguide and 0.34 for the second waveguide. Numerical simulation by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method demonstrates the propagation of the broadband pulse.     

基于光子晶体马赫-曾德尔干涉仪的太赫兹开关及强度调制器

通过对二维正方晶格光子晶体线缺陷模色散曲线慢光特性的研究, 利用外电场对液晶分子取向的调控作用, 在填充液晶的正方晶格波导的马赫-曾德尔干涉仪结构中实现了开关和强度调制等功能. 利用平面波展开法计算了光子晶体波导的线缺陷模, 分析了液晶折射率的变化对缺陷模的影响. 计算表明, 液晶折射率仅改变了0.1, 线缺陷模有效折射率改变达0.168, 该特性可以更为有效地实现对相位的控制, 进而实现高消光比开关和强度调制功能, 这种高效的相位调节器件在集成光系统中将有很好的应用前景.     

Tunable highly birefringent photonic bandgap fibers

A novel tunable highly birefringent photonic bandgap fiber (PBGF) is designed theoretically by filling its air holes with high-index material. The transmission band can be continuously tuned by changing the refractive index of the filling material. Accordingly, the tunable modal birefringence and polarization mode dispersion of the PBGFs are investigated by adjusting the refractive index of the filling material. Furthermore, we have also analyzed the effect of surface modes in the photonic bandgap on the characteristics of the tunable PBGFs. The simulation results show the feasibility of constructing birefringence-tunable photonic crystal fibers and related fiber devices in practical applications.     

Dispersionless slow light by photonic crystal slab waveguide with innermost elliptical air holes

We report a low-loss photonic crystal slab waveguide formed by deforming the innermost circle air holes in the conventional photonic crystal slab waveguide into elliptical ones. We obtain the photonic bands and group index of guided modes in this photonic crystal waveguide by guided-mode expansion method and investigate the dependence of photonic bands and group index of guided modes on the parameters of the innermost elliptical air holes. The group velocity and group velocity dispersion of this waveguide strongly depend on the innermost elliptical air holes. Photonic crystal slab waveguide with the optimum innermost elliptical air holes possesses a wider single mode region below the light line, in which light can easily propagate without intrinsic loss. At the same time, the guided mode supported by this waveguide has nearly constant group velocity and vanishing group velocity dispersion in a 3-5 nm bandwidth.     

Nanofluidic tuning of photonic crystal circuits

By integrating soft-lithography-based nanofluidics with silicon nanophotonics, we demonstrate dynamic, liquid-based addressing and high deltan/n (approximately 0.1) refractive index modulation of individual features within photonic structures at subwavelength length scales. We show ultracompact tunable spectral filtering through nanofluidic targeting of a single row of holes within a planar photonic crystal. We accomplished this with an optofluidic integration architecture comprising a nanophotonic layer, a nanofluidic delivery structure, and a microfluidic control engine. Variants of this technique could enable dynamic reconfiguration of photonic circuits, selective introduction of optical nonlinearities, or delivery of single molecules into resonant cavities for biodetection.     

Design and simulation of a switch based on nonlinear directional coupler

In this paper, we have analyzed a nonlinear photonic crystal directional coupler by the finite difference time domain method. We have tried to increase the coupling efficiency and also reduce the coupling length in linear and nonlinear states in this device. In this coupler, refractive index of the rods of the central row is tuned by input signal power due to nonlinear Kerr effect; therefore, input signal beam can be controlled so as to be exchanged between two output ports. Physical length is chosen to be 24a so as to have the highest output power ratio and also the smallest amount of power required for nonlinear performance.     

Inner cladding influence on mode interaction in symmetry-free photonic crystal fibers under heat load

A further output power scaling of Yb-doped double-cladding photonic crystal fiber lasers, required for practical applications in many industrial fields, is currently prevented by thermal effects, which significantly worsen the beam quality. In this work the mode interaction and, consequently, the single-mode regime of Yb-doped air-silica symmetry-free photonic crystal fibers have been numerically investigated in different heat load conditions using simulation tools based on the finite element method. The effect of the main inner cladding geometric parameters, in particular of the inner cladding dimension, on the guided-mode delocalization has been analyzed, with the aim to identify a design of the large mode area active fiber providing single-mode operation despite the presence of thermal effects. Simulation results have demonstrated that the inner cladding enlargement causes a stronger coupling between core-guided and cladding modes, as well as an increase of the differential overlap between fundamental and first higher-order mode for moderate heat load values. However, the inner cladding influence becomes less important under severe heat load, being the fiber behaviour mainly affected by the thermally-induced refractive index change in the doped core.     

Out-of-plane scattering in 1-D photonic crystal slabs

We present a detailed study of out-of-plane scattering losses in a 1D approximation of 2D photonic crystal slabs. In 2D photonic crystals with a waveguide structure in the third dimension, the periodic structure (in a lot of applications a 2D arrangement of holes etched through the core and cladding) will cause light to scatter out of the waveguide plane. We studied the out-of-plane scattering losses of these holes using a 2D approximation of this 3D structure, with etched slots instead of holes. Our simulation techniques included mode expansion with PML and FDTD. We will present the influence of the refractive index contrast between core and cladding of the layered structure. We show that the losses increase with higher index contrast between core and cladding, but that with very high index contrasts and under the right circumstances light can be coupled into lossless Bloch modes.     

带多孔硅表面缺陷腔的半无限光子晶体Tamm态及其折射率传感机理

结合表面缺陷半无限光子晶体Tamm态与多孔硅光学传感机理,在光子晶体表面缺陷腔中引入多孔硅,并利用其高效的承载机制,提出基于多孔硅表面缺陷光子晶体Tamm态的折射率传感结构.在半无限光子晶体中缺陷腔与原来的周期性分层介质结构的界面上存在Tamm态,通过入射角度调制使其在缺陷腔中实现多次全反射,并在缺陷腔中加入吸收介质,使谐振波长在缺陷腔中完成衰荡,从而在反射谱中得到缺陷峰;调整光子晶体参数,使缺陷峰的半高全宽得到优化,提高其品质因数(Q值);在此基础上,根据Goos-H?nchen相位移与谐振波长的关系,建立由待测样本折射率改变所导致的多孔硅表面吸附层有效折射率变化与缺陷峰值波长漂移之间的关系模型,并分析其折射率传感特性.结果表明,此生物传感结构Q值为1429,灵敏度为546.67 nm/RIU,证明了该传感结构的有效性,可为高Q值和高灵敏度折射率传感器的设计提供一定的理论参考.     

Optical interleaver based on directional coupler in a 2D photonic crystal slab with triangular lattice of air holes

A small-size optical interleaver based on directional coupler in a 2D photonic crystal slab with triangular lattice of air holes is designed and theoretically simulated using plane wave expansion and finite-difference time-domain method. The interleaver is formed by two parallel and identical photonic crystal slab waveguides which are separated by three rows of air holes. The coupling region is designed below the light line to avoid vertical radiation. The simulated results show that the coupling coefficient is increased and the final length of the interleaver is decreased by enlarging the radius of the middle row of air holes. The transmission properties are analyzed after the interleaver’s structure is optimized, and around 100 GHz channel spacing can be got when the length of the interleaver is chosen as 40.5 μm.     

Design and analysis of slow light regime in silicon carbide 2D photonic crystal waveguides

We theoretically demonstrate the slow light capabilities of 2D silicon carbide based photonic crystal W1 waveguides (SiC-PhC-W1Ws) with numerical simulations. The PhC is assumed to be created by devising air-holes with hexagonal lattice in a standard SiC substrate having oscillator type ordinary refractive index. Numerical simulations show that by means of selective optofluidic infiltration and varying the air-holes radii, SiC-PhC-W1Ws are capable of slowing light down by about 473 times while their group velocity dispersions are tailored to near zero values. Our numerical study also suggests the possibility of slow-light guiding with n_g × Δλ/λ_c values as high as 0.42 in SiC-PhC-W1Ws at optical telecommunications wavelengths.     

Design of a novel wideband single-mode waveguide in a photonic crystal slab structure

We propose a novel photonic crystal slab waveguide that provides a single-mode band with large bandwidth. The proposed waveguide is obtained by introducing a line defect in a triangular lattice of air holes in a dielectric slab. This line defect consists of holes which are not located in the original lattice points. The plane wave expansion (PWE) method is used to extract the band diagram of guiding modes and based on the results, photonic crystal holes in the defect row and its adjacent rows are modified to maximize the waveguide bandwidth. We show that using the proposed structure, a single-mode bandwidth of 17% can be achieved.     

光子晶体异质结耦合波导光开关

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平行的单模线缺陷波导,以一行耦合介质柱为间距,通过调节部分耦合介质柱的折射率,构筑了光子晶体异质结耦合波导光开关结构。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,缺陷波导间耦合介质柱的折射率不同时的耦合长度,确定了合适的光子晶体异质结耦合波导光开关的结构参数。利用时域有限差分法研究了该光开关中耦合介质柱的折射率变化及异质结构介质柱的位置分布对光信号输出路径的影响。结果表明,通过改变该结构中耦合介质柱的折射率可以改变光的输出路径,可实现光的开关行为。并且异质结构介质柱位置的随机分布对该光开关的影响不大,有助于光子晶体新型滤波器、定向耦合器、波分复用器以及光开关等光子器件的研究。     

Numerical demonstration of slow light tuning in slotted photonic crystal waveguide using microfluidic infiltration

Tuning of the operating wavelength of slow light in the slotted photonic crystal waveguide using microfluidic infiltration has been investigated. Using 2D plane wave expansion method, we numerically demonstrate that the operating wavelength can be shifted from the C to L band, simply by choosing the refractive index of the infiltrated fluid. It is also found that, as the refractive index of the infiltrated fluid changes, the group velocity dispersion has slight variation at different operating wavelength. This design opens the possibility for post-fabrication scheme of tuning the operating wavelength of slow light in slotted photonic crystal waveguide, and allows the device to be optimized for different applications.     

Slow light transmission in a photonic crystal power splitter with parallel outputs

In this paper, we investigate coupling of light to slow modes in a photonic crystal power splitter composed of a Y-junction and two 60° bends. First, a combination of two cascaded bends which is commonly used in integrated photonic crystal circuits is studied in slow light frequency regime. We propose a structure that its transmission spectrum covers the high group-index frequencies near the band edge. Also, by structural modifications, high transmission near to 95% is achieved in slow light bandwidth. Next, we study the complete structure of a photonic crystal power splitter with parallel outputs based on a Y-junction integrated with two 60° bends. Using modified bends and reducing sharpness of Y-junction, the efficiency of splitting increases in both high and low group-index frequency bands. The optimized structure has an average efficiency of 82% in slow mode regime. This structure can be used in photonic crystal based slow light devices, such as Mach-Zehnder interferometers.