T-shaped optical circulator based on coupled magneto-optical rods and a side-coupled cavity in a square-lattice photonic crystal

Abstract

We propose and numerically investigate a kind of high-efficiency T-shaped optical circulator in a two-dimensional square-lattice photonic crystal. In the T-shaped structure, the single-direction light transmission for 90° light-bending is achieved by coupling two magneto-optical rods. And aided with a side-coupled cavity, two paths of single-direction 90° light-bending are effectively combined, which realizes the nonreciprocal light transmission for two waveguides arranged and linked along a straight line. The optical properties of the system are investigated by finite element method. The circulator considered here can be used for isolating light reflections and improving system stabilization in designing photonic crystal integrated circuits.