Modulation of coupling in a photonic switch by resonant interference

A novel photonic switch structure is described in which the coupling of light between two fiber waveguides is controlled by the resonant interference of a third waveguide. The switching action is controlled by a small variation of the index of refraction of the control waveguide by the application of either photo-optical (Kerr) techniques or electro-optical (Pockels) techniques. The control waveguide can be either a fiber waveguide or a slab waveguide. The equations for the waveguide coupling were obtained by analytical approximations from coupled-mode theory. A beam-propagation simulation was also used. The results of the two models were compared. Multiple resonant interferences were observed in the case of a slab waveguide.     

Optical bandwidth in coupling: the multicore photonic switch

In the present study, the bandwidth of a photonic switch described previously [Appl. Opt. 37,2296 (1998); 38, 3239 (1999)] is evaluated. First the optical bandwidth is evaluated for coupling between two fiber-core waveguides, in which the cores are embedded within the same cladding. Then the coupling bandwidth is determined for a fiber-core-to-slab-core waveguide, in which the cores are embedded within the same cladding. These bandwidths are then compared and contrasted with the bandwidths of the photonic switch, which consists of two fiber cores and a control waveguide. Two configurations of the photonic switch are considered: one in which the control waveguide is a fiber core and one in which the control waveguide is a slab core. For the photonic switch, the bandwidth characteristics are more complicated than for the coupled pairs, and these characteristics are discussed in detail.     

Modal analysis and device considerations of thin high index dielectric overlay slab waveguides

The effect of adding a thin high index dielectric overlay layer onto a 3-layer slab waveguide demonstrates several interesting features that can be exploited in integrated optical device configurations. A simple modal analysis is employed to examine the behavior of guided light launched from a 3-layer waveguide structure then coupled and propagated in the 4-layer overlay region. Modal properties typically overlooked in conventional slab waveguides are made use of in the design and theoretical analysis of an MMI device and optical index of refraction sensor. The optical structure presented here can form the backdrop waveguide design for more complex and active devices.     

Planar photonic crystal structure with inherently single-mode waveguides

A planar photonic crystal that allows inherently gap-guided single-mode waveguides is proposed and discussed. This novel structure consists of a two-dimensional lattice of silicon rods embedded on a thin silica slab sandwiched between two silica claddings whose refractive indices are slightly lower than the index of the silica core. The physical parameters of the structure, i.e., rod radius and core thickness, are optimized to maximize the bandgap width for odd modes. Lossless guided modes inside the bandgap and below the claddings' light cone are obtained by reducing the radius of a row of rods. The waveguide bandwidth can be increased by inserting a thin silicon dielectric waveguide instead of the row of rods. The proposed approach may overcome many of the common drawbacks in conventional holes-on-dielectric planar photonic crystal waveguides.     

Planar waveguide photonic crystals as an alternative for refractive index optical sensors design: theoretical evaluation

In this paper, the possibilities of designing refraction index optical sensors in planar waveguide photonic crystals are demonstrated for the first time. Photonic crystals obtained by connecting in cascade planar optical waveguides with high index contrast are analyzed. Photonic band gaps (PBGs) and photonic windows (PWs) were obtained. If a local defect is introduced in the PBG structure, the optical path length is modified and on states can be created in the gap. Besides, the on states wavelengths can be tuned if the optical path of the defect is modified: changing the physical length and/or the refraction index of the defect. In this way, planar waveguide photonic crystals could be used for sensing applications when a specimen modifies the refraction index lattice site. Sensing properties of planar waveguide photonic crystals, with one, two and three sensing channels, are demonstrated.     

Highly efficient coupling in lithium niobate photonic wires by the use of a segmented waveguide coupler

The purpose of this article is to show that efficient light coupling in lithium niobate waveguides presenting a strongly confined mode, such as photonic wires, is possible with the use of a periodically segmented waveguide coupler. The coupler consists in an input periodically segmented waveguide whose mode size is adapted to the mode of a standard single-mode fiber coupled to a photonic wire whose mode size is of the same order of the wavelength. The periodic segmentation of the input waveguide allows fulfilling the phase matching condition necessary to achieve an efficient light transfer between these waveguides. The coupling efficiency is typically 5 times higher than the butt-coupled configuration.     

Fabrication of polymer waveguides between two optical fibers using spatially controlled light-induced polymerization

A new method for the fabrication of polymer waveguides between two optical fibers using a spatially controlled photopolymerization is reported. By taking advantage of the self-guiding effect of light through a photopolymerizable medium, polymer waveguides perfectly aligned with the fiber cores and strongly anchored to their surfaces are fabricated. The process is characterized by following in situ the coupling efficiency of a nonactinic laser source. Examples of waveguides exhibiting good coupling efficiency and high flexibility are given. By selecting the suitable monomers and adjusting the photonic parameters, the optical and mechanical waveguide properties (diameter, length, refractive index, rigidity, and flexibility) can be controlled in view of optical sensor applications.     

Plasmonic/metallic passive waveguides and waveguide components for photonic dense integrated circuits: a feasibility study based on microwave engineering

To investigate the potential for dense integration of photonic components, we analyse passive plasmonic/ metallic waveguides and waveguide components at optical frequencies by using mostly microwave engineering approaches. Four figures of performance are formulated that are utilised to compare the characteristics of four different slab waveguides with zero frequency cut-off modes. Three of these are metallic based whereas the fourth one, which also serves as a reference, is dielectric based with high index-contrast. It is found that all figures of performance cannot be optimised independently; in particular there is a trade-off between the waveguide Q-value and the transversal field confinement. Microwave methods are used to design several photonic transmission line components. The small Q-value of the metallic waveguides is the main disadvantage when using materials and telecom frequencies of today. Hence plasmonic waveguides do not offer full functionality for some important integrated components, being severe for frequency-selective applications. To achieve a dense integration, it is concluded that new materials are needed that offer Q-values several orders of magnitude higher than metals.     

Refraction and diffraction by a metal-dielectric multilayered structure

An optical refraction prism consisting of metal and dielectric, subwavelength, periodic multilayered thin films has been proposed. The multilayered structure of metal and dielectric thin films has a cylindrical dispersion surface for TM polarized light. The light behaviors are very different from those of conventional glass prisms and photonic crystal superprisms. Refraction and diffraction of the light wave for the metal-dielectric multilayered prism has been investigated by numerical simulations and graphical representation based on the dispersion surface. A prism with 0.2 microm period had an angular dispersion of 0.20 degrees /nm for approximately 0.8 microm wavelength light. The finite thick metal-dielectric multilayered structure acted as a slab waveguide.     

Ion-exchanged glass waveguides with low birefringence for a broad range of waveguide widths

Optical communications networks require integrated photonic components with negligible polarization dependence, which typically means that the waveguides must feature very low birefringence. Recent studies have shown that waveguides with low birefringence can be obtained, e.g., by use of silica-on-silicon waveguides or buried ion-exchanged glass waveguides. However, many integrated photonic circuits consist of waveguides with varying widths. Therefore low birefringence is consequently required for waveguides having different widths. This is a difficult task for most waveguide fabrication technologies. We present experimental results on waveguide birefringence for buried silver-sodium ion-exchanged glass waveguides. We show that the waveguide birefringence of the order of 10(-6) for waveguide mask opening widths ranging from 2 to 10 microm can be obtained by postprocessing the sample through annealing at an elevated temperature. The measured values are in agreement with the values calculated with our modeling software for ion-exchanged glass waveguides. This unique feature of ion-exchanged waveguides may be of significant importance in a wide variety of integrated photonic circuits requiring polarization-independent operation.     

TM and TE propagating modes of photonic crystal waveguide based on honeycomb lattices

The waveguide based on the honeycomb photonic crystal has propagating modes for both the TE and TM polarizations. The group index-normalized frequency curves are U-shaped for the two polarizations. The average group index of the TE mode is approximately 3, while the average group index of the TM mode is over 10, which implies that the TM mode is a slow light mode. With the shift value 0 ≤ δx ≤ 0.025a, the group index is over 10 and the normalized delay-bandwidth product is from 0.316 to 0.349, which is ideal for the slow light mode of the TM polarization. In the group velocity dispersion of the waveguide, there is a very large "zero" dispersion region for both the TM and TE modes, which is far larger than that of other photonic crystal waveguides. The TM mode of this kind of waveguide structure is a slow light mode with wide bandwidth and a large "zero" dispersion region.     

Long-range surface plasmon polariton mode cutoff and radiation in slab waveguides

The normal-mode-analysis method is used to model the radiative spreading of long-range surface plasmon polariton modes injected into regions where the bound surface mode is cutoff or radiative. Mode cutoff is induced by an asymmetry between the index of refraction of the top cladding layer and that of the bottom. The analysis was performed at lambda(0)=1.55 microm for infinite-width (slab) metal waveguides where the metal was Au and the bounding dielectrics were SiO(2). Results show that a change in insertion loss of > 20 dB is possible for an appropriate waveguide geometry and dielectric asymmetry.     

Integration of photonic and silver nanowire plasmonic waveguides

Future optical data transmission modules will require the integration of more than 10,000 x 10,000 input and output channels to increase data transmission rates and capacity. This level of integration, which greatly exceeds that of a conventional diffraction-limited photonic integrated circuit, will require the use of waveguides with a mode confinement below the diffraction limit, and also the integration of these waveguides with diffraction-limited components. We propose to integrate multiple silver nanowire plasmonic waveguides with polymer optical waveguides for the nanoscale confinement and guiding of light on a chip. In our device, the nanowires lay perpendicular to the polymer waveguide with one end inside the polymer. We theoretically predict and experimentally demonstrate coupling of light into multiple nanowires from the same waveguide, and also demonstrate control over the degree of coupling by changing the light polarization.     

Complex Faraday rotation in microstructured magneto-optical fiber waveguides

Magneto-optical glasses are of considerable current interest, primarily for applications in fiber circuitry, optical isolation, all-optical diodes, optical switching and modulation. While the benchmark materials are still crystalline, glasses offer a variety of unique advantages, such as very high rare-earth and heavy-metal solubility and, in principle, the possibility of being produced in fiber form. In comparison to conventional fiber-drawing processes, pressure-assisted melt-filling of microcapillaries or photonic crystal fibers with magneto-optical glasses offers an alternative route to creating complex waveguide architectures from unusual combinations of glasses. For instance, strongly diamagnetic tellurite or chalcogenide glasses with high refractive index can be combined with silica in an all-solid, microstructured waveguide. This promises the implementation of as-yet-unsuitable but strongly active glass candidates as fiber waveguides, for example in photonic crystal fibers.     

Photonic crystal waveguide-mode orthogonality conditions and computation of intrinsic waveguide losses

We simulate the propagation of light in a W1 planar photonic crystal waveguide with the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method and apply an inner product against previously calculated mode profiles to the simulated field cross sections. We show that this inner product satisfies mode orthogonality for both photonic crystal waveguides and segmented waveguides and use the obtained data to evaluate waveguide losses.     

Fabrication and analysis of a low-loss in-fiber active polymer waveguide

We present a method for fabricating an in-fiber electro-optic polymer waveguide within a D-shaped optical fiber. A combined process of selective chemical etching and spin coating creates a 2-cm in-fiber poly(methyl methacrylate)-DR1 dye polymer waveguide section with an overall insertion loss of micro 1.6 dB at 1550 nm. Numerical simulations show that, for in-fiber polymer waveguides to have low loss, the polymer layer's thickness must be kept below a certain value so that it will not support slab waveguide modes. Long transition regions between the unetched fiber and the polymer waveguide section also reduce loss. We analyze the efficiency of an in-fiber polymer waveguide by simulating its theoretical performance as an electro-optic modulator.     

Variable-coupling-induced optical trapping in optical waveguides via dressed continuum

We have studied a photonic structure, based on a semi-classical approach, considering simultaneous interaction of two side-coupled bent waveguides having variable coupling interactions (Gaussian and exponential-type) with a dressed continuum. We have examined the condition of optical trapping in spatial domain during propagation of a light field through the waveguide. The variation in parametric conditions leading to a typical trapping (quasi-trapping) phenomenon for both the cases of exponential and Gaussian coupling interactions is discussed. Simulation of such phenomenon of trapping in our macroscopic photonic structure is possible for all even relative positions of the side waveguides coupled to the dressed continuum. As far as the onset of quasi-trapping is concerned, the coupling width in the Gaussian coupling case is smaller than that in the exponential case. In this context, the Gaussian profile is found more tolerant than the exponential one so far as the separation between the side-coupled waveguides is concerned. Perfect trapping is observed to sustain by setting proper conditions while launching initial light in the side waveguides.     

Gaussian beams in hollow metal waveguides

Various families of Gaussian beams have been explored previously to represent the propagation of nearly plane electromagnetic waves in media having at most quadratic transverse variations of the index of refraction and the gain or loss in the vicinity of the beam. However, such beams cannot directly represent the wave solutions for propagation in planar or rectangular waveguides, and sinusoidal mode functions are more commonly used for such waveguides. On the other hand, it is also useful to consider the possibility of recurring Gaussian beams that have an approximately Gaussian transverse profile at certain distinct planes along the propagation path. It is shown here that under some conditions recurring Gaussian beams can describe wave propagation in hollow metal waveguides, and they can also lead to efficient coupling between the waveguide fields and free-space beams.     

弧型波导全光开关的优化设计

应用光束传输法对基于三阶非线性材料的弧型波导全光开关的开关特性进行了模拟,对两波导中心距、宽度及其不对称性等几何参数对开关特性的影响进行了分析,并对其进行了优化设计。结果表明,优化设计后的弧型波导全光开关具有较低的平均开关功率、数值化多次开关特性,有着弱光非线性全光开关的应用前景。     

Design, fabrication, and characterization of Si-based ARROW photonic crystal bend waveguides and power splitters

Silicon-based (Si-based) photonic crystal waveguide based on antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW PCW) structures consisting of 60° bends and Y-branch power splitters were designed and first efficiently fabricated and characterized. The ARROW structure has a relatively large core size suitable for efficient coupling with a single-mode fiber. Simple capsule-shaped topography defects at 60° photonic crystal (PC) bend corners and Y-branch PC power splitters were used for increasing the broadband light transmission. In the preliminary measurements, the propagation losses of the ARROW PC straight waveguides lower than 2 dB/mm with a long length of 1500?μm were achieved. The average bend loss of 60° PC bend waveguides was lower than 3 dB/bend. For the Y-branch PC power splitters, the average power imbalance was lower than 0.6?dB. The results show that our fabricated Si-based ARROW PCWs with 60° bends and Y-branch structures can provide good light transmission and power-splitting ability.