Photonic Crystal Waveguide Structure Research Articles

High Power Conversion Efficiency Narrow Divergence Angle Photonic Crystal Laser Diodes

9xx nm laser diodes (LDs) with aluminum component continuous gradient photonic band crystal (CCG-PBC) waveguide structure are designed and fabricated. The simulation results indicate that the CCG-PBC structure can significantly reduce the heterojunction barrier and carrier accumulation at the interface of the conventional PBC structure. We demonstrate that the LD with CCG-PBC structure can achieve a narrow vertical divergence angle of 16.2° at full width at half maximum, and the divergence angle changes with current not more than 0.5°. Meanwhile, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the narrow divergence angle LD can reach 66.7%, and the PCE at 20 W is still over 60%. After optimizing the coating reflectivity and cavity length of the CCG-PBC structure LD, the peak PCE and power are 71.5% and 17.2 W at 25 °C and 77.7% and 23.3 W at 0 °C, respectively, which are optimal results for any edge-emitting LD. Our device provides valuable guidance for researching high power and high efficiency narrow vertical divergence angle LDs.

Influence of medium column type on edge states in all-media topological photonic crystals

We have constructed photonic crystals (PCs) of a standard honeycomb lattice composed of solid dielectric columns, hollow dielectric columns, and composite dielectric columns and studied the influence of their dielectric constant and filling ratio on the topological boundary states. The optical quantum spin Hall effect is realized by compressing and stretching the standard honeycomb lattice. In the waveguide structure with sharp bends, cavity, and disorder, the electromagnetic (EM) wave is transmitted unidirectionally and robustly, which verifies the transmission characteristics of the topological edge states. In addition, by replacing several solid dielectric columns near the junction of PCs with different topological states with composite dielectric columns, disturbance is introduced to the edge states, and the influence of the relative effective permittivity of the composite dielectric columns on the edge states is studied. It is found that the EM wave in the gap between the upper boundary state and the lower boundary state cannot be transmitted, and with the increase of the relative effective permittivity of the composite dielectric columns, the gap becomes larger and larger, and the position of the gap gradually moves down. Based on this, a photonic crystal (PC) waveguide structure that has higher transmission efficiency, robust unidirectionality, and higher optical localization performance, is designed. It has more potential development in filters, optical switches, optical communication systems, and semiconductor technology.

Towards lab-on-chip ultrasensitive ethanol detection using photonic crystal waveguide operating in the mid-infrared

Abstract Thanks to the unique molecular fingerprints in the mid-infrared spectral region, absorption spectroscopy in this regime has attracted widespread attention in recent years. Contrary to commercially available infrared spectrometers, which are limited by being bulky and cost-intensive, laboratory-on-chip infrared spectrometers can offer sensor advancements including raw sensing performance in addition to utilization such as enhanced portability. Several platforms have been proposed in the past for on-chip ethanol detection. However, selective sensing with high sensitivity at room temperature has remained a challenge. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an on-chip ethyl alcohol sensor based on a holey photonic crystal waveguide on silicon on insulator-based photonics sensing platform offering an enhanced photoabsorption thus improving sensitivity. This is achieved by designing and engineering an optical slow-light mode with a high group-index of n g = 73 and a strong localization of the modal power in analyte, enabled by the photonic crystal waveguide structure. This approach includes a codesign paradigm that uniquely features an increased effective path length traversed by the guided wave through the to-be-sensed gas analyte. This PIC-based lab-on-chip sensor is exemplary, spectrally designed to operate at the center wavelength of 3.4 μm to match the peak absorbance for ethanol. However, the slow-light enhancement concept is universal offering to cover a wide design-window and spectral ranges towards sensing a plurality of gas species. Using the holey photonic crystal waveguide, we demonstrate the capability of achieving parts per billion levels of gas detection precision. High sensitivity combined with tailorable spectral range along with a compact form-factor enables a new class of portable photonic sensor platforms when integrated with quantum cascade laser and detectors.

Engineering the light coupling between metalens and photonic crystal resonators for robust on-chip microsystems

We designed an on-chip transformative optic system with a broadband metalens coupler on a foundry compatible silicon photonic platform. By adjusting the on-chip metalens’ focusing length and mode dimension, the insertion loss between the metalens and the photonic crystal waveguide (PhC WG) structures is reduced to 2 dB by matching the mode on the metalens focal plane to the PhC WG mode. Alternatively, the integrated metalens allow for direct coupling from a multi-mode WG to the PhC cavity. The on-resonance transmission in a lens–cavity–lens microsystem achieves 60%. These micro-systems do not involve any single-mode silicon nanowire WG, and even a suspended PhC structure can be mechanically robust against vibrations. The proposed microsystem can be a new platform for miniaturized chemical and biosensor applications operating in air or solution environments.

Theoretical investigation on communication bandwidth of an orthogonal symmetry-based photonic crystal waveguide for wavelength division multiplexing

To realize wavelength division multiplexing for high-capacity optical communications, we theoretically investigate the properties of a photonic crystal waveguide structure in which a row of air holes is displaced by a/2 (a is the lattice constant). We calculate transmission loss and coupling efficiency to circular defect cavities of this waveguide structure, which we call an orthogonal lattice waveguide (OLW). The communication bandwidth of the OLW is estimated to be about 20 nm, which is twice that of the conventional line-defect (W1) waveguide. This result indicates that improvements in characteristics of the wavelength division multiplexing are expected by using the OLW instead of W1.

Dynamics of matter-wave quantum emitters in a structured vacuum

The characteristics of spontaneous emission can be strongly modified by the mode structure of the vacuum. In waveguide quantum-electrodynamics based on photonic crystals, this modification is exploited to engineer atom-photon interactions near a band edge, but the physics of coupling to an entire band has not yet been explored in experiments. Using ultracold atoms in an optical lattice, we study the decay dynamics of matter-wave quantum emitters coupled to a single band of an effective photonic crystal waveguide structure with tunable characteristics. Depending on the ratio between vacuum coupling and bandwidth, we observe a transition from irreversible decay to fully oscillatory dynamics linked to the interplay of matter-wave bound states near the band edges, whose spatial structure we characterize. Our results shed light on the emergence of coherence in an open quantum system in a controllable environment, and are of relevance for the understanding of vacuum-induced decay phenomena in photonic systems.

Theory of intrinsic propagation losses in topological edge states of planar photonic crystals

Using a semi-analytic guided-mode expansion technique, we present theory and analysis of intrinsic propagation losses for topological photonic crystal slab waveguide structures with modified honeycomb lattices of circular or triangular holes. Although conventional photonic crystal waveguide structures, such as the W1 waveguide, have been designed to have lossless propagation modes, they are prone to disorder-induced losses and backscattering. Topological structures have been proposed to help mitigate this effect as their photonic edge states may allow for topological protection. However, the intrinsic propagation losses of these structures are not well understood and the concept of the light line can become blurred. For four example topological edge state structures, photonic band diagrams, loss parameters, and electromagnetic fields of the guided modes are computed. Two of these structures, based on armchair edge states, are found to have significant intrinsic losses for modes inside the photonic band gap, more than 100 dB/cm, which is comparable to or larger than typical disorder-induced losses using slow-light modes in conventional photonic crystal waveguides, while the other two structures, using the valley Hall effect and inversion symmetry, are found to have a good bandwidth for exploiting lossless propagation modes below the light line.

Asymmetric transmission of light waves in a photonic crystal waveguide heterostructure with complete bandgaps.

Here, we theoretically present an on-chip nanophotonic asymmetric transmission device (ATD) based on the photonic crystal (PhC) waveguide structure with complete photonic bandgaps (CPBGs). The ATD comprises two-dimensional silica and germanium PhCs with CPBGs, within which line defects are introduced to create highly efficient waveguides to achieve high forward transmittance. In the meantime, the total internal reflection principle is applied to block the backward incidence, achieving asymmetric transmission. We optimize the design of the PhCs and the waveguide structure by scanning different structure parameters. The optimized ATD shows a high forward transmittance of 0.581 and contrast ratio of 0.989 at the wavelength of 1582 nm for TE mode. The results deepen the understanding and open up the new possibility in designing novel ATDs. The on-chip ATD will find broad applications in optical communications and quantum computing.

Second-harmonic generation from 2D photonic crystal waveguide with simultaneous near-flat dispersions at fundamental frequency and second harmonic

Photonic crystal waveguides (PCW) have shown great potential to generate second harmonic (SH), but the available schemes with cavity or defect suffer from a lack of multiple wavelengths operation and excessive phase-matching requirement. Here we propose a 2D PCW structure comprised of a modulated single line defect, which is capable of independently controlling the fundamental frequency (FF) and SH modes. Therefore, two near-flat group velocity dispersions can be achieved for these modes, and they simultaneously satisfy phase matching conditions. Based on multiply scattering method, we theoretically demonstrate that the SH resonant modes originated from the nonradiative near-flat dispersion have high quality factors (nearly 6.5×104 for the maximum value). And the maximum SH conversion efficiency for these resonant modes are 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of off-resonant modes. In addition, benefitting from the matching of the group velocities of the second harmonic and the fundamental, the central wavelength of SH can be modulated within wavelength range ∼3nm. These results can provide potential applications in on-chip integration of photonics and quantum optics.

Metaheuristic approach enabled mode order conversion in photonic crystals: numerical design and experimental realization

In the presented study, we proposed a design approach based on optimization algorithm to obtain mode order conversion in photonic crystal (PC) structures and experimentally verify the numerical result of the corresponding approach. The finite-difference time-domain method is integrated with an evolutionary algorithm to develop the introduced design method. Here, we designed two different mode order converter PCs with ultra-compact sizes that transform a fundamental mode to a higher order mode. The first designed structure realizes a mode order conversion in free-space host medium, and the second structure performs the same operation in a PC waveguide with optimized region. Also, asymmetric light transmission effect in PC waveguide structure is investigated. Additionally, we performed microwave experiments to confirm the numerical results of mode order conversion. In conclusion, we demonstrated a novel design approach to obtain mode order conversion, which can be feasible to design diverse photonic structures in the future applications of nanophotonics.

Light–Matter Interaction in Black Phosphorus Coupled to a Si Photonic Crystal at Near Infrared Band

In this paper, we demonstrate the light interaction mechanism of black phosphorus (BP) in two different structures: the photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) and photonic crystal mirror (PCM). The optical characteristics are simulated by the numerical method finite difference time domain. Specifically, the coupled mode theory is used to investigate the light propagation in PCW structure integrated with BP. By optimizing the geometric parameters, an enhanced light absorption in BP with the maximum of 36.8% at 1550 nm could be obtained. Additionally, with the assistance of BP film, the ultracompact PCM used for a 90° bend connection can achieve a high-reflective efficiency at ~94% for transverse electric (TE) mode incidence. It is demonstrated that these interesting structures can offer a new way to develop ultracompact photonic integrations based on two-dimensional materials at near infrared field.

基于光子晶体波导结构的甲烷与温度双参量传感器设计

基于光子晶体波导结构的甲烷与温度双参量传感器设计

Spatially controlled electrostatic doping in graphene p-i-n junction for hybrid silicon photodiode

Sufficiently large depletion region for photocarrier generation and separation is a key factor for two-dimensional material optoelectronic devices, but only a few device configurations have been explored for a deterministic control over the space charge region area in graphene with convincing scalability. Here we investigate a graphene-silicon p-i-n photodiode defined in a foundry processed planar photonic crystal waveguide structure, achieving visible—near-infrared, zero-bias, and ultrafast photodetection. Graphene is electrically contacting to the wide intrinsic region of silicon and extended to the p an n doped region, functioning as the primary photocarrier conducting channel for electronic gain. Graphene significantly improves the device speed through ultrafast out-of-plane interfacial carrier transfer and the following in-plane built-in electric field assisted carrier collection. More than 50 dB converted signal-to-noise ratio at 40 GHz has been demonstrated under zero bias voltage, the quantum efficiency could be further amplified by hot carrier gain on graphene-i Si interface and avalanche process on graphene-doped Si interface. With the device architecture fully defined by nanomanufactured substrate, this work demonstrates post-fabrication-free two-dimensional material active silicon photonic devices.

Design and optimization of a TE-pass polarization filter based on a slotted photonic crystal waveguide

A transverse-electric (TE)-pass polarization filter based on a slotted photonic crystal waveguide structure is proposed for application in photonic integrated circuits. The silicon-slab-based structure is fabrication-compatible with the standard silicon-on-insulator process technologies. Different structural parameters, such as the r/a ratio of the photonic crystal sections, slab height, slot width, and slot length, are optimized for improved performance. Moreover, the conversion efficiency of a mode of a W1 waveguide to that of a slot waveguide is analyzed for different starting positions of the slot in order to achieve a high extinction ratio of the TE wave over the transverse-magnetic wave. A 3D finite difference time domain simulation methodology, which has been verified against an earlier experimental study made by researchers on another structure, is adopted to evaluate the transmittance of the structure. It shows that the polarization filter, with a footprint of merely 6.28 μm×4.35 μm, offers an extinction ratio in the order of 22 dB; this corresponds to an effective extinction ratio of 3.5 dB μm−1 considering the total length (or 6.5 dB μm−1 considering only the slot length). TE transmittance of the device is calculated as ≈−3 dB at a wavelength of 1550 nm.

The two-dimensional hybrid surface plasma micro-cavity

A hybrid surface plasma micro-cavity structure with a defect cavity is formed based on the two-dimensional surface plasmon resonance photonic crystal waveguide structure. A cell defect is introduced in the centre of the photonic crystal layer to build the hybrid surface plasma micro-cavity structure. This work is numerical based on the finite-difference time-domain method. The photon energy is confined to the micro-cavity and the photon energy is strongest at the interface between the insulating layer and the metal layer. The micro-cavity structure has a very small mode volume of sub-wavelength scale in the 1550 nm communication band. The value of Q/V is up to 7132.08 λ/n−3.

Design and Modeling of the Photonic Crystal Waveguide Structure for Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording

The application of the photonic crystal (PC) waveguide (WG) as the light delivery system in the heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) system is demonstrated. The structure consists of a 90° bending PC waveguide and a ridge dielectric waveguide taper coupler. Three-dimensional (3D) models of structures are built and simulated in order to determine light coupling and transmission efficiencies. Geometric parameters including the taper length (LTP), coupler inlet width (WFW), and PC waveguide width (WWG) are investigated. The initial simulation shows that the transmission efficiency of over 90% can be achieved with the coupler integrated with the straight PC waveguide. However, the overall transmission efficiency is substantially reduced to 53.8% when the coupler is attached to the 90° bending PC waveguide. Our analysis shows that the wave mode matching and light decay rate in the waveguide cavity are significant contributing factors. The transmission efficiency increases to around 60.8% after some modification of the bending region.

High efficiency slotted photonic crystal waveguides for the determination of gases using mid-infrared spectroscopy

ABSTRACTWe present the design and analysis of a high efficiency slotted photonic crystal waveguide for gas sensing applications in the mid-infrared wavelength range. We designed the slotted photonic crystal waveguide structure by engineering the interfaces between the input and output slot waveguides and a resonant coupler. Coupling and transmission spectra of the sensor have been modeled using the three-dimensional finite-difference time domain method. The sensing principle is based on the shift of the upper band edge of the sensor output transmission spectrum which arises due to changes in the ambient refractive index. Transmission spectrum and sensitivity of the proposed sensor are analyzed by tuning the radii of the air holes localized on each side of the slot. The results show that a change of the refractive index of the gas by 10−4 leads to a shift of the upper band edge wavelength by 540 pm which corresponding to a sensitivity of 1720 nm per refractive index unit. The proposed design may be an ideal platform for developing mid-infrared gas sensing devices characterized by high coupling efficiencies and high sensitivities.

Analysis of dispersion diagram for high performance refractive index sensor based on photonic crystal waveguides

Photonic crystal waveguide, to be used as a highly sensitive platform for refractive index based sensing applications, has been analyzed in this paper. The sensing performance is estimated by using dispersion diagram through using plane wave expansion simulations. The dispersion diagram is used to obtain transmittance and cut-off wavelengths for analyzing the sensor characteristics. It has been proposed that the photonic crystal waveguide with ring-type line defect provides a better perspective for sensing applications as compared to the conventional photonic crystal waveguide. An optimized ring-type photonic crystal waveguide structure with a defect filling factor of 50% shows a refractive index sensitivity of 450nm/RIU having almost double the output signal strength compared to hole-type line defect waveguide with the same filling factor.

T-shaped polarization beam splitter based on two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide structures

A T-shaped polarization beam splitter based on two-dimensional photonic crystal is proposed, which is composed of three waveguides: one input and two output. Unpolarized beams incident from the input port will be separated into two different polarization modes and outputted individually by two different coupling structures. Simulation results can be obtained by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. In the normalized frequency range of 0.3456 < \(\omega \alpha /2\pi {}c\) < 0.37, multiple frequencies can obtain high transmission efficiency simultaneously for both TE and TM modes. And the degree of polarization is very closed to 1 for both output ports at this frequency range. When the normalized frequency \(f=0.3534 \omega \alpha /2\pi {}c\), the transmission efficiency, respectively, is 88 % and \(91\) % for TE modes and TM modes. The extinction ratio is all 30dB for both modes. The polarization beam splitter attains the requirement we expected by analyzing simulation results.

Asymmetric Oval-Shaped-Hole Photonic Crystal Waveguide Design by Artificial Intelligence Optimizers

This paper proposes a new kind of photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) called asymmetric oval-shaped-hole PCW (AOPCW). In this PCW, 20 structural parameters are considered, which provides a very flexible PCW to design. The large number of variables makes the design process of this new PCW almost impossible by the current manual try and error methods. Therefore, the AOPCW is optimized automatically by the artificial intelligence optimization technique in three phases. First, the AOPCW is optimized to maximize normalized delay-bandwidth product. Second, it is optimized with respect to two objectives: averaged of group index ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\overline {n_g } $</tex-math> </inline-formula> ) and normalized bandwidth <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(\Delta \omega /\omega _0)$</tex-math> </inline-formula> . Third, group velocity dispersion is also considered in addition to the two objectives in the second phase, so AOPCW is optimized with respect to three objectives. In all of the three phases, a band mixing avoidance mechanism is also considered and handled. The comparative study of the optimized designs proves that the proposed AOPCW is able to substantially outperform the current PCW structures in the literature. This paper also considers and discusses time-domain simulation issues of the PCW-based optical buffer.