Demonstration of Ultraslow Modes in Asymmetric Line-Defect Photonic Crystal Waveguides

We propose an asymmetric photonic crystal (PC) waveguide, formed by moving the PC cladding on one side of the line defect along the waveguide core. By adjusting the structural parameters, we flatten the slow-mode dispersion curve, exclude the extreme points from the flat band, and avoid the unacceptably large dispersion induced by extreme points. We obtain an ultra-flat band with an inflection point corresponding to a slow-light mode with reduced distortion. We utilize the finite-difference time-domain method to verify the inflection-point ultraslow wave.     

Observation of enhanced group velocity dispersion in coupledwaveguide structures

Enhanced group velocity dispersion (GVD) due to coupled-waveguide modes (supermodes) has been experimentally observed, for the first time, using an InGaAsP-InP semiconductor coupled waveguide structure. The observed waveguide dispersion, which was due to supermodes, was about 10 ³ times as large as that due to single-waveguide modes. Preliminary experimental results on the compression of a chirped pulse using coupled-waveguide structures is also presented, and shows its potential for use in a simple, compact, and transmissive dispersion compensator or pulse compressor     

Defect Bragg Fiber With Low Loss for Broadband and Zero Dispersion Slow Light

Narrow bandwidth and large group velocity (v_g) dispersion are two fatal limitations of slow light in Bragg fibers. In this paper, by introducing a well-designed defect layer into the cladding of the Bragg fiber, the modal characteristics are modified by the coupling between the core mode and the defect mode. The defect location mainly determines the coupling strength and, thus, exerts a strong influence on v_g and dispersion. The defect thickness mainly determines the resonant wavelength of the defect waveguide and, thus, the wavelength where the modal coupling takes place. Consequently, the two limitations of the slow-light propagation in the Bragg fiber are overcome through proper optimization of the defect parameters. Around 1550 nm, a slow-light bandwidth up to 90 nm is achieved at an average v_g of c/5 (c is the light velocity in a vacuum) under N = 2, whereas an average v_g of c/10 is achieved with a bandwidth of 20 nm under N = 5. On the other hand, the slow-light propagation of v_g = 0.074c with both zero dispersion and zero dispersion slope is achieved, which is able to support applications requiring a subterahertz bandwidth of optical pulse. All of the fiber designs ensure sufficient low losses and good optical field distribution. The results are helpful in developing various Bragg-fiber-based slow-light devices.     

An efficient all-fiber variable optical attenuator via acoustoopticmode coupling

A novel broad-band variable optical attenuator is realized using acoustooptic mode coupling on a cladding etched single-mode fiber. Broad-band coupling bandwidth with low attenuation ripples is achieved by matching both the group index and dispersion parameter between the core and the LP₁₁^cl cladding modes. A single-section device exhibits a 10-dB dynamic range with attenuation ripples of <0.5 dB over a spectral range of >100 nm, a response time of 20 μs, an insertion loss of 0.3 dB, and a maximum power consumption of only 3.4 mW. Attenuation of 22 dB is obtained for a cascaded two-section device     

Polarization Maintaining Air-Core Bandgap Fibers for Terahertz Wave Guiding

A polarization-maintaining air-core bandgap polymer fiber is proposed for low-loss terahertz (THz) wave guiding. The polarized guided modes are confined in an asymmetric core by a bandgap of periodic arrangement of square holes with round corners in the cladding. The guiding properties, including transmission bandwidth, numerical aperture, phase-index birefringence, modal absorption loss, and bend loss, are systematically investigated. The influence of background polymers on guiding properties is demonstrated in detail. Numerical simulations reveal that, while maintaining a relatively high phase-index birefringence (of the order of 10^-3 ), the THz fiber shows a significant suppression of absorption loss of the background polymers (by a factor of more than 25) due to the bandgap effect that repels the modal power from the absorbent polymers. The proposed THz fiber has potential for guiding intense THz waves for polarization-sensitive applications.     

Semiconductor lasers with 2-D-photonic crystal mirrors based on awet-oxidized Al2O3-mask

We have fabricated and investigated AlGaAs-InGaAs-based ridge waveguide (RWG) lasers with two-dimensional (2-D) triangular photonic crystal (PC) mirrors using a wet-oxidized Al₂O₃ mask for the dry etching of the PC at one end of the ridge. The laser structure includes a 60-nm-thick AlAs layer positioned in the upper cladding, which is converted into Al₂O₃ after the definition of the PC by electron beam lithography and shallow etching. Etching of the holes is then continued using the Al₂O₃ mask, to a final depth of 600 nm. The continuous-wave characteristics of the lasers show a clear dependence on the period of the PC including a significant decrease of the threshold current and an increase of the efficiency for properly adjusted crystal parameters     

Magneto-Photonic Crystal Slab Waveguides With Lower-Refractive-Index-Silica Claddings

This letter proposes a new form of magneto-photonic crystal slab waveguides including nanoporous SiO₂, with an extremely low refractive index, as the cladding material. These structures allow us to achieve physical strength and to render unnecessary holes extending to cladding layers. Our letter investigates the significance of the waveguide geometry for nonreciprocal phase shifts and losses, using a three-dimensional finite-element method with periodic boundary conditions. The guided modes exhibit small losses well below the light line and high nonreciprocal phase shifts with appropriate parameters, according to the calculations in this letter     

具有混合形状空气孔的OAM传输光纤设计研究

本文提出了一种新型轨道角动量模(OAM)传输的光子晶体光纤(PCF)结构,该光纤由最中心空气孔、高折射率环形层和外包层构成,其中外包层由一圈椭圆形空气孔和多圈呈周期排列的扇形空气孔共同组成,无需通过额外的掺杂,就可以使中心空气孔和外包层空气孔之间形成一个用来传输OAM光束的等效高折射率环形区。通过对该PCF的传输特性进行仿真分析,发现在1.55μm处,各模式的限制损耗维持在10^-6 dB/m-10^-10 dB/m,在C波段的色散值均维持在310 ps/(nm×km)以下,HE2,1模在1.55μm-1.6μm波段内的色散变化为3.1 ps/(nm×km)。在1.55μm处最大的Δnneff能够达到4.83×10^-3,大的有效折射率差可有效地抑制了模式间的简并,避免HE模和EH模耦合成LP模。验证了该光纤具有大带宽、小而平坦色散、大有效折射率差、低限制损耗和低非线性系数等优良性能。在1.25μm-2.0μm波段内共可以支持34个OAM模式的有效传输,每个模态都可作为独立的信道传递信息,适合用于大量数据的传输,大幅提高了光通信的系统容量和频谱效率。     

Dispersion characteristics of strip dielectric waveguides

A simple and accurate dispersion relation is derived for the guided mode of a strip dielectric waveguide. This relation shows explicitly the effect of the width of the waveguide and involves only the solution for a single three-layer slab waveguide. It is found that there always exist a strip waveguide with a specific aspect ratio in which the E_mn^x and E_mn^y modes propagate at the same phase velocity     

CMOS-Compatible All-Si High-Speed Waveguide Photodiodes With High Responsivity in Near-Infrared Communication Band

Submicrometer silicon photodiode waveguides, fabricated on silicon-on-insulator substrates, have photoresponse from <1270 to 1740 nm (0.8 AW^-1 at 1550 nm) and a 3-dB bandwidth of 10 to 20 GHz. The p-i-n photodiode waveguide consists of an intrinsic waveguide 500times250 nm where the optical mode is confined and two thin, 50-nm-thick, doped Si wings that extend 5 mum out from either side of the waveguide. The Si wings, which are doped one p-type and the other n-type, make electric contact to the waveguide with minimal effect on the optical mode. The edges of the wings are metalized to increase electrical conductivity. Ion implantation of Si⁺ 1times10 ¹³ cm^-2 at 190 keV into the waveguide increases the optical absorption from 2-3 dBmiddotcm^-1 to 200-100 dBmiddotcm^-1 and causes the generation of a photocurrent when the waveguide is illuminated with subbandgap radiation. The diodes are not damaged by annealing to 450 degC for 15 s or 300 degC for 15 min. The photoresponse and thermal stability is believed due to an oxygen stabilized divacancy complex formed during ion implantation     

一维光子晶体慢光波导的FDTD研究

设计了一种新型一维光子晶体慢光波导结构。在常规波导一侧进行了特殊的设计,使波导具有周期性结构,从而具有特殊的色散关系,获得慢光效应。基于麦克斯韦方程利用平面波展开法对光子晶体慢光波导的色散关系进行了分析,获得了波导模以及相应的慢光频率。并利用时域有限差分法（FDTD）对脉冲在波导的传播进行了时域上的模拟,对慢光效应进行验证。     

Low-Loss Slow Light Transmission in Photonic Crystal Waveguides Comprising of Liquid Crystal Infiltration

A low loss photonic crystal(PhC) waveguide having rectangular air holes in Si core is proposed having an average group index of 55 in the bandwidth of 1.2 THz.The possible propagation losses due to inefficient coupling are also investigated for proposed structure.It is found that high transmission is obtained for a broad bandwidth from the output of the finally designed heterogeneous waveguide consisting of a slow liquid crystal infiltrated PhC waveguide surrounded by fast PhC waveguides on both sides.     

3D-Printed Broadband Dielectric Tube Terahertz Waveguide with Anti-Reflection Structure

We demonstrate broadband, low loss, and close-to-zero dispersion guidance of terahertz (THz) radiation in a dielectric tube with an anti-reflection structure (AR-tube waveguide) in the frequency range from 0.2 to 1.0 THz. The anti-reflection structure (ARS) consists of close-packed cones in a hexagonal lattice arranged on the outer surface of the tube cladding. The feature size of the ARS is in the order of the wavelength between 0.2 and 1.0 THz. The waveguides are fabricated with the versatile and cost efficient 3D-printing method. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) measurements as well as 3D finite-difference time-domain simulations (FDTD) are performed to extensively characterize the AR-tube waveguides. Spectrograms, attenuation spectra, effective phase refractive indices, and the group-velocity dispersion parameters β ₂ of the AR-tube waveguides are presented. Both the experimental and numerical results confirm the extended bandwidth and smaller group-velocity dispersion of the AR-tube waveguide compared to a low loss plain dielectric tube THz waveguide. The AR-tube waveguide prototypes show an attenuation spectrum close to the theoretical limit given by the infinite cladding tube waveguide.     

Propagation of lower-order modes in a radially anisotropiccylindrical waveguide with liquid crystal cladding

The propagation behavior of the four lower-order modes, HE₁₁ , TE₀₁, TM₀₁, and HE₂₁, in a radially anisotropic cylindrical waveguide with liquid crystal cladding is studied both theoretically and experimentally. The cylindrical waveguide is a doubly-clad fiber with an isotropic core and inner cladding and a radially anisotropic outer cladding made of nematic liquid crystal. Theoretically, the propagation and decay constants for the TE₀₁ and TM₀₁ modes are obtained by solving the wave equations exactly, while those for the HE₁₁ and HE ₂₁ modes are derived using perturbation techniques under the weakly guiding approximation. It is predicted that in such a structure the guided TE₀₁ mode can be separated from the leaky HE₁₁, TM₀₁, and HE₂₁ modes. The theoretical results show good agreement with the experimental observations for a 3 cm long fiber cell with a 5 μm inner cladding radius     

Nonlinear TE waves in a dielectric slab waveguide with two optically nonlinear layers

Properties of TE waves in a slab waveguide composed of five layers, including two Kerr-like nonlinear layers, are analyzed and examined. We find in particular the occurrence of an asymmetric mode, in addition to the expected symmetric and antisymmetric modes, though the waveguide geometry is symmetric. For the TE0symmetric mode, TE1antisymmetric and asymmetric modes, the dispersion curves, the relations between the effective index and the optical power density, and the variations of the transverse electric field patterns are illustrated and discussed in detail. As a result of this analysis, the regions in which the respective modes mainly reside are elucidated. We find that the effective index value of the symmetric mode at which the guide power vanishes is larger than that of the antisymmetric mode. For the case in which the effective indexes of the asymmetric and antisymmetric modes are identical, the power in the former mode is found to be larger than that in the latter.     

Linear theory of slow wave cyclotron interaction in double-ridgedfolded rectangular waveguide

A general dispersion relation for slow wave cyclotron traveling wave interaction in a folded waveguide is derived from a fluid dynamical treatment. The serpentine structure is formed by folding a double-ridged rectangular waveguide so that the orientation of the magnetic field changes (H-plane bend) instead of the conventional E-plane bend configuration. The H-plane bend structure has the potential for the production of high power, broad band radiation. For a cold beam, the linear theory predicts a gain of 2.0-2.5 dB/cm and a bandwidth of 20-25% in the millimeter wave frequencies. The bandwidth is sensitive to the axial velocity spread of the beam. The bandwidth decreases to 10% at δυ_z/υ_z=3%. Means to suppress the backward wave oscillations have to be applied for using the full bandwidth     

Wavelength-tunable asymmetric cladding ridge-waveguide distributedBragg reflector lasers with very narrow linewidth

Narrow-linewidth ridge-waveguide distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers with asymmetric cladding are demonstrated. This design requires only a single epitaxial growth of an asymmetric cladding laser structure while the grating and the ridge waveguide are fabricated after the growth. These lasers have a threshold current as low as 9 mA, a slope efficiency of 0.3 W/A, and a T₀ of 100 K. Wavelength tuning of 8 nm is achieved by current injection heating of the DBR section. A spectral-linewidth minimum of 36 kHz is achieved at an output power of 20 mW and is limited by linewidth rebroadening due to current injection in both the gain section and DBR section     

Optical and RF characteristics of short-cavity-lengthmultiquantum-well strained-layer lasers

The optical and RF characteristics of short-cavity, strained-layer In_0.3Ga_0.7As graded-index separate-confinement-heterostructure (GRINSCH) multiple-quantum-well ridge waveguide lasers are described. Short-cavity-length strained-layer lasers with four In_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum wells have been fabricated using chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE). These lasers have a very low K factor of 0.14 ns and a high differential gain of 1.1×10^-15 cm². A 3 dB modulation bandwidth of 23.5 GHz has been measured on a 50 μm cavity-length device. This is the highest reported bandwidth for a quantum well laser     

A numerical method for the analysis of single-mode low-dispersion graded-index fibers

A numerical integration method for the calculation of the time dispersion of optical-fiber modes is introduced and used to determine the parameters of single-mode graded-index silica-based fibers for the 1.55-μm band. The method gives an accuracy on the order of 0.001 ps/km/nm, and it was possible to quantify the error in assuming the overall time dispersion to be the sum of the material and waveguide dispersions. The analysis indicates that when large material dispersion is to be neutralized by waveguide dispersion, the outer diameter of the cladding must be increased to avoid higher microbending losses. When the difference between the refractive indices at the center of the core and in the cladding decreases, the ratio between the cladding and core diameters must be increased.     

Self-switching in hollow waveguides with a Kerrlike nonlinearpermittivity

The dispersion relations, stability, and excitation of the stationary nonlinear transverse electric (TE) waves guided by a nonlinear hollow waveguide are examined numerically. This waveguide consists of a self-focusing nonlinear film bounded by two identical linear claddings of the higher refractive index. Since a minimum power for guidance of the stationary waves always exists, the nonlinear hollow waveguide acts as a lower threshold device. A stability analysis using the beam propagation method shows that all the stationary TE_n modes, including the asymmetric TE₀ mode, are stable on the positively sloped branch (dP/dβ>0) of the nonlinear dispersion curve. The lower threshold device using the nonlinear hollow waveguide exhibits very sharp power-switching characteristics, and the required device length is fairly short