Wideband and low dispersion slow light in slotted photonic crystal waveguide

We present a procedure to generate wideband and low dispersion slow light in slotted photonic crystal waveguide. By shifting the first and second rows of air holes of slotted photonic crystal waveguide, the bandwidth of slow light can be increased, with small group velocity dispersion. Using 2D plane wave expansion method, we numerically demonstrate slow light with the nearly constant group indices of 23, 42, and 54 over 17.6 nm, 6.7 nm and 3.3 nm bandwidth, respectively. The maximal normalized delay-bandwidth product is 0.26. From the fabrication's point of review, shifting the position of holes is easier to be controlled technically than changing the diameters of air holes. In addition, our simulations suggest this design is tolerant to deviation for positions of the first two rows of air holes. Therefore, the proposed approach decreases the dependence on the fabrication accuracy.     

Issues when designing hypoellipse photonic crystal waveguides

This work designs a type of line-defect photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) called hypoellipse PCW (HPCW) that considers two conflicting issues: group index and bandwidth. To do so, the recent multi objective framework called MoMIR is employed. A wide range of designs obtained demonstrates the advantage of considering group index and bandwidth simultaneously when designing HPCWs. Comparison of the proposed HPCW with the current best PCWs shows a nearly 7% improvement over the latter in terms of normalized delay-bandwidth product (NDBP). Analysis of the results reveals some of the physical rules about the structure of the HPCW. Finally, optical pulse propagation in obtained HPCWs and the process of designing an optical buffer by using an obtained design are explained.     

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.     

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.     

Group index and dispersion properties of photonic crystal waveguides with circular and square air-holes

The slow light and group velocity dispersion properties of 2D triangular lattice photonic crystal line defect waveguide (PCW) with square and circular air-holes are numerically investigated with the plane-wave expansion method. The simulation results show that the guided mode is impacted slightly by the cross section’s shape of the air-holes of the same filling ratio. Adjusting two rows of the inner-hole adjacent to the waveguide and modifying the waveguide width can bring in low-group velocity and low-dispersion (LVLD) region, in which the group index of the square holes can reach 210 which is far better than the circular-holes. At the same air-hole size and waveguide width, the PCW with the square holes can support higher bit rate of the signal up to 35 Gb/s. These results provide important theoretical basis for realizing of optical buffering and optical logic devices in all-optical network.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Application of 2D graded eye-shape scatterers for slow light effect in photonic crystal line defect waveguide

With operating frequency f = 1thz, two-dimensional (2D) graded eye-shape scatterers were firstly applied into photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) for slow light effect in two ways: (1) selecting group index n_g from 31.4 to 95.0, low-dispersion bandwidth (n_g varies within a 10% range) was got from 0.736 μm to 2.334 μm, and ultralow-dispersion bandwidth (n_g varies within a 1% range) was got from 0.438 μm to 0.945 μm by grading the eye-shape scatterers along the longitudinal direction; (2) selecting group index n_g from 32.1 to 98.3, low-dispersion bandwidth was got from 0.559 μm to 1.765 μm, and ultralow-dispersion bandwidth was got from 0.296 μm to 0.661 μm by grading the eye-shape scatterers along the transverse direction. The 2D graded structures can also used in asymmetrical structures and heterostructures for slow light effect.     

Multiple slow light bands in photonic crystal coupled resonator optical waveguides constructed with a portion of photonic quasicrystals

Coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) in complex two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals (PCs) constructed with a portion of 12-fold photonic quasicrystals (PQs) are proposed. We show that enhanced transmission and slow light can be simultaneously achieved in such waveguides as well as general CROWs. Moreover, due to higher degree of flexibility and tunability of PQs for defect mode properties compared to conventional periodic PCs, multiple slow light bands can be flexibly obtained in CROWs constructed with complex 2D PCs. Our results may lead to the development of a variety of novel ultracompact devices for photonic integrated circuits.     

Selective modes excitation in multimode photonic crystal waveguides

We investigate modes excitation with the input field of different positions in two-dimensional multimode photonic crystal waveguides. Odd modes can be selectively excited by the input field of odd symmetry. The input field with different positions can excite different modes due to the field intensity distribution of modes. When the input field locates at the position of the zero field, intensity of waveguide modes is zero and the modes are not excited. The finite-difference time-domain method is used to obtain the excited field distributions.     

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.     

Slow light performance enhancement of graphene-based photonic crystal waveguide

We propose a graphene-based photonic crystal (PC) slow light waveguide, which is realized by creating periodical air holes in a silicon layer to achieve spatially varying chemical potentials of graphene. The structure is optimized around 30 THz, and a large group index of 166.6 is obtained, with a very low propagation loss of ?2.1 dB/um. The corresponding normalized delay-bandwidth product reaches as high as 4.00. Furthermore, the slow light performance can be dynamically tuned by changing a bias voltage. The center frequency of the slow light waveguide can be tuned between 19.1 THz and 27.4 THz. Our results suggest that graphene-based PC structures are very promising for slow light devices.     

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.     

Theory and method for enhancing sensitivity of multi-gas sensing based on slow light photonic crystal waveguide

A novel harmonic detection theory and method for multi-component gas sensing based on photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) slow light is proposed. The PCW is used as gas chamber, and harmonic detection method was adopted for signal processing. This system could real-time and remote monitoring multi-component gases simultaneously with sensitivities increased by 10,278, 8650 and 6282 times respectively compared with system PCW not used. The proposed theory and method possesses powerful practicability and favorable application prospects. It could be also applied to other fluid concentration detection system, thus providing a new idea for expanding applications of slow light in sensing fields.     

Demonstration of temperature resilient properties of 2D silicon carbide photonic crystal structures and cavity modes

In this paper, photonic crystal (PhC) based on two dimensional (2D) square and hexagonal lattice periodic arrays of Silicon Carbide (SiC) rods in air structure have been investigated using plane wave expansion (PWE) method. The PhC designs have been optimized for telecommunication wavelength (λ = 1.55 μm) by varying the radius of the rods and lattice constant. The result obtained shows that a photonic band gap (PBG) exists for TE-mode propagation. First, the effect of temperature on the width of the photonic band gap in the 2D SiC PhC structure has been investigated and compared with Silicon (Si) PhC. Further, a cavity has been created in the proposed SiC PhC and carried out temperature resiliency study of the defect modes. The dispersion relation for the TE mode of a point defect A1 cavity for both SiC and Si PhC has been plotted. Quality factor (Q) for both these structures have been calculated using finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and found a maximum Q value of 224 for SiC and 213 for Si PhC cavity structures. These analyses are important for fabricating novel PhC cavity designs that may find application in temperature resilient devices.     

Slow light in photonic crystal with combinations of gradient dielectric constant

A line defect waveguide formed by a new kind of two-dimensional photonic crystal with combinations of gradient varied dielectric was designed and the properties of slow light will been studied by using the Plane Wave expansion Method (PWM). The result shows that the group velocity is slower when the corresponding combination of gradient dielectric constants are with higher dielectric constant and lower interval. In our new structure of photonic crystal, the corresponding group velocity can reach as low as 0.06c (c: light velocity in vacuum), two orders magnitude lower than light velocity. Meanwhile, the group velocity dispersion effect is relatively small.     

Slow light engineering in polyatomic photonic crystal waveguides based on square lattice

In this paper, the slow light properties of the polyatomic Photonic Crystal (PhC) which has multiple different air holes in each primitive cell are investigated. A slow light waveguide with “U-type” group index-frequency curve, which results in nearly constant group index over large bandwidth, is achieved using this new photonic crystal geometry based on the square lattice. Also, the radius and position of the innermost rows of small air holes have been modified to investigate the feasibility of controlling the dispersion relation by subtle structural modification. Numerical results demonstrate that decreasing the group velocity effectively and meanwhile maintaining a large Normalized Delay-Bandwidth Product (NDBP) can be achieved by only modifying the radius of the innermost rows of small air holes. Shifting the innermost rows of small air holes toward the waveguide core is highly beneficial to enlarge the slow light bandwidth, but it contributes nothing to the promotion of NDBP. Our results provide important theoretical basis for the potential application offered by the polyatomic photonic crystal in future optical networks.     

Slow light in photonic crystals waveguide constructed with symmetrically perturbed structure

Symmetrically perturbed photonic crystal waveguide can be constructed by inserting perturbative dielectric rods into photonic crystal waveguide structure with whose rods’ radius distributed according to a certain proportion. Slow light properties in this new structure are studied by using the plane wave expansion method (PWM). In this paper, schemes of adjusting radius of perturbative dielectric rods and adjusting the dielectric constant of perturbative dielectric rods are proposed to optimize slow light properties. The result shows that the scheme for adjusting radius of perturbative rods can realize larger average slow light bandwidth and efficiently control the NDBP value of the waveguide, but it contributes little to obtain smaller group velocity. The scheme for adjusting dielectric constant of perturbative rods can realize smaller group velocity, but can only obtain smaller slow light bandwidth and cannot efficiently enlarge NDBP value of waveguide. Both optimization schemes proposed in this paper realize group velocity that is two magnitudes smaller than the vacuum speed of light meanwhile maintaining large NDBP and low GVD region. Our results provide important theoretical basis for the potential application offered by symmetrically perturbed photonic crystal in future optical networks.     

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.