Transverse mode competition in defect states of a waveguide with corrugated walls

Abstract

We investigate the defect states arising in the Bragg and non-Bragg gaps by inserting a straight duct into a waveguide with periodically corrugated walls. In periodic waveguides, the Bragg gap is created by the interference of the same transverse modes whereas the different mode coupling leads to the non-Bragg one. Due to the involved high-order modes, there are two defect states observed in the non-Bragg gap while only one in the Bragg gap, indicating that transverse modes play a significant role in the creation of defect states. Furthermore, the frequency of each defect state highly relies on the defect geometries and their band widths can be optimized by the number of waveguide segments. The proposed transverse mode competition analysis reveals the mechanism of frequency shifting and provides an opportunity for guided wave control engineering, which would definitely benefit their applications in various functional devices, such as filters, sensors, and amplifiers.