Coupling technique for efficient interfacing between silica waveguides and planar photonic crystal circuits

We describe a two-step-size tapered structure with one defect pair that can markedly enhance the coupling efficiency at the entrance and exit terminals of a planar photonic crystal (PPC) waveguide. PPC waveguides are composed of circular dielectric rods set in two-dimensional square lattices. On the basis of our simulations, we found that the optimized scheme maximizes the power transmission above 90% at a wavelength of 1.55 microm. Besides, one can control the central frequency for optical communications by determining this defect configuration in an optimization procedure. Moreover, by properly adjusting the defect radii in PPC tapers, one can use the PPC circuit as a good reflector.