Abstract

We show the first experimental demonstration of multiple heterostructure photonic crystal cavities being coupled together to form a chain of coupled resonators with up to ten cavities. This system allows us to engineer the group velocity of light over a wide range. Devices were fabricated using 193 nm deep UV lithography and standard silicon processing technology. Structures were analysed using both coupled resonator and photonic bandstructure theory, and we highlight the discrepancies arising from subtle imperfections of the fabricated structure.

Highlights

  • All optical signal processing remains one of the key goals of photonic systems

  • The interest in photonic crystals for optical buffers or “slow light” applications is largely due to the high degree of control of the optical characteristics that may be achieved by carefully choosing the crystal structure

  • Recent developments in the area of photonic crystal nanocavities have shown that extremely high Q factors (Q = 10 6) may be achieved with very low modal volumes [1, 2, 7]

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Summary

Introduction

All optical signal processing remains one of the key goals of photonic systems. Devices that are capable of providing switching functionality and performing logic operations on a stream. Recent developments have shown that photonic crystal nanocavities [1, 2] can provide the strong light-matter interaction required for switching operations [3]. Recent developments in the area of photonic crystal nanocavities have shown that extremely high Q factors (Q = 10 6) may be achieved with very low modal volumes [1, 2, 7] These structures provide unprecedented control and confinement of photons in both the vertical and lateral directions. We focus on the double heterostructure nanocavity approach [2] for providing the basic element of the CRS This cavity consists of two different W1 waveguides with slightly different passbands, the optical confinement being provided by this mismatch. Despite the dramatic improvements in the characteristics of individual cavities, this is the first reported use of these cavities for CRS devices

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