Dual wavelength demultiplexing by coupling and decoupling of photonic crystal waveguides

Broadband 1310/1550 nm wavelength demultiplexer based on a multimode interference coupler with tapered internal photonic crystal for the silicon-on-insulator platform

We design and experimentally demonstrate a broadband 1310/1550 nm wavelength demultiplexer based on a multimode interference coupler with a tapered internal photonic crystal (PC) structure for the silicon-on-insulator platform. The tapered internal PC structure is engineered to reflect the C-band light while transmitting the O-band light. Novel PC nanotapers are introduced for the internal PC structure that effectively suppress the sidelobe of the photonic bandgap and enable our device to be operable over the O-band. The device was fabricated using electron beam lithography, and its performance has been experimentally characterized. The measured extinction ratios are higher than 15 dB over a 74 nm bandwidth from 1286 to 1360 nm at the O-band, and over a 103 nm bandwidth from 1527 to 1630 nm that covers the C-band and the L-band.

Three-visible-light wave combiner based on photonic crystal waveguides

We present a three-visible-light wave combiner based on two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides whose widths are not integral multiples of the lattice period. The proposed device consists of two cascaded directional couplers. It combines three visible light waves with different wavelengths from three input ports into a single output port. As an example, a combiner for combining light waves of 635, 532, and 488 nm, which are commonly used as the three primary colors in laser display systems, is designed and demonstrated through the finite-difference time-domain method. The results show that the proposed device can perform efficient synthesis for three visible light waves with transmittance exceeding 89% for each wavelength and high ability in preventing the backward coupling of waves from different waveguides. The method for designing the combiner is useful for designing other waveguide couplers based on photonic crystals made of dispersion materials.

Compact 1×4 wavelength demultiplexer based on directional coupling of periodic dielectric waveguides

A compact 1×4 wavelength demultiplexer is proposed based on the directional coupling of periodic dielectric waveguides for optical communication wavelengths. With appropriate optimization, the 1×4 wavelength demultiplexer can route 1130, 1310, 1490, and 1700 nm wavelengths to corresponding out ports with a transmittance of more than 95%. This provides a simple and compact demultiplexer that is expected to be applied to highly dense photonic integrated circuits.

Compact wavelength de-multiplexer design using slow light regime of photonic crystal waveguides

We demonstrate the operation of a compact wavelength de-multiplexer using cascaded single-mode photonic crystal waveguides utilizing the slow light regime. By altering the dielectric filling factors of each waveguide segment, we numerically and experimentally show that different frequencies are separated at different locations along the waveguide. In other words, the beams of different wavelengths are spatially dropped along the transverse to the propagation direction. We numerically verified the spatial shifts of certain wavelengths by using the two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. The presented design can be extended to de-multiplex more wavelengths by concatenating additional photonic crystal waveguides with different filling factors.

Coupled waveguide modes in hexagonal photonic crystals

We investigate the modes of coupled waveguides in a hexagonal photonic crystal. We find that for a substantial parameter range the coupled waveguide modes have dispersion relations exhibiting multiple intersections, which we explain both intuitively and using a rigorous tight-binding argument.

Pulse propagation in a decoupled two-core fiber

It is known that a decoupled two-core fiber can prevent monochromatic light at a specific wavelength (the decoupling wavelength) launched into one core from coupling to the other core. In this paper, we show that a pulse at the decoupling wavelength launched into one core of such a fiber inevitably splits into two pairs of pulses propagating in the two cores along the fiber. The minimum distance required for pulse splitting to be visible is inversely proportional to the coupling-coefficient dispersion in the fiber and linearly proportional to the pulse width. It would take only several centimeters of a recently demonstrated decoupled two-core photonic-bandgap fiber to observe the pulse-splitting effect with a 100-fs pulse. We also study the effects of self-phase modulation on the pulse propagation dynamics in a decoupled two-core fiber in both the normal and anomalous dispersion regimes.

Ring-type Fabry-Pérot filter based on the self-collimation effect in a 2D photonic crystal

We propose a ring-type Fabry-Pérot filter (RFPF) based on the self-collimation effect in photonic crystals. The transmission characteristics of self-collimated beams are experimentally measured in this structure and compared with the results obtained with the simulations. Bending and splitting mechanisms of light beams by the line defects introduced into the RFPF are used to control the self-collimated beam. Antireflection structures are also employed at the input and output photonic crystal interfaces in order to minimize the coupling loss. Reflectance of the line-defect beam splitters can be controlled by adjusting the radius of defect rods. As the reflectance of the line-defect beam splitters increases, the transmission peaks become sharper and the filter provides a Q-factor as high as 1037. Proposed RFPF can be used as a sharply tuned optical filter or as a spectrum analyzer based on the self-collimation phenomena of photonic crystals. Furthermore, it is suitable for a building block of photonic integrated circuits, as it does not back reflect any of the incoming self-collimated beams owing to the antireflection structure applied.

Photonic crystal waveguide-based Mach-Zehnder demultiplexer

A Mach-Zehnder demultiplexer with two different waveguide arms is proposed and studied theoretically in photonic crystal. The two waveguide arms with different widths function as a phase shifter. The operating wavelength spacing depends on the length of the two waveguide arms. The photonic bandgap is calculated by the plane-wave expansion method, and the device is simulated by the finite-difference time-domain method.

High efficiency photonic crystal based wavelength demultiplexer

A highly efficient design of a two-channel wavelength demultiplexer in the visible region is presented with finite-difference time-domain simulations. The design process is described in detail with particular attention to the challenges inherent in fabrication of an actual device. A 2D triangular lattice photonic crystal with 75nm air pores in a silicon nitride planar waveguide provides the confinement for visible light. The device losses due to fabrication errors such as stitching misalignment of write fields during e-beam lithography and variation in air pore diameters from etching are modeled using realistic parameters from initial fabrication runs. These simulation results will be used to guide our next generation design of high efficiency photonic crystal based demultiplexing devices.

Coupling and decoupling of dual-core photonic bandgap fibers

Coupling characteristics of dual-core photonic bandgap fibers with triangular photonic crystal cladding are investigated by use of a vector plane-wave expansion method and a vector finite-element method. We demonstrate the eigenmodes and the coupling length for two orthogonal polarizations. A decoupling phenomenon is found at a certain wavelength in this fiber configuration. The decoupling effect is attributed to the effect of surface modes on the eigenmodes. The decoupling wavelength decreases as the ratio of core radius to cladding air-hole pitch increases from 1.05 to 1.15.