Efficient Analysis and Design of Low-Loss Whispering-Gallery-Mode Coupled Resonator Optical Waveguide Bends

Waveguides that are composed of electromagnetically coupled optical microcavities [coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROWs)] can be used for light guiding, slowing, and storage. In this paper, we present a 2-D analysis of finite-size straight and curved CROW sections based on a rigorous Muller boundary integral equation method. We study the mechanisms of the coupling of whispering-gallery (WG) mode and guiding light around bends in CROWs composed of both identical and size- mismatched microdisk resonators. Our accurate analysis reveals the differences in WG modes coupling in the vicinity of bends in CROWs composed of optically large and wavelength-scale micro- cavities. We propose and discuss possible ways to design low-loss CROW bends and to reduce bend losses. These include selecting specific bend angles depending on the azimuthal order of the WG mode and tuning the radius of the microdisk positioned at the CROW bend.

[1]  J. Scheuer,et al.  Designing coupled-resonator optical waveguide delay lines , 2004 .

[2]  N. Uzunoglu,et al.  Integral equation analysis of microring and microdisk coupled-resonator optical waveguides , 2006, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[3]  S. Boriskina,et al.  Theoretical prediction of a dramatic Q-factor enhancement and degeneracy removal of whispering gallery modes in symmetrical photonic molecules. , 2006, Optics letters.

[4]  Svetlana V. Boriskina.  Spectrally engineered photonic molecules as optical sensors with enhanced sensitivity: a proposal and numerical analysis , 2006 .

[5]  Allen Taflove,et al.  Highly efficient optical coupling and transport phenomena in chains of dielectric microspheres. , 2006, Optics letters.

[6]  P.-T. Ho,et al.  Higher order filter response in coupled microring resonators , 2000, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[7]  A. Scherer,et al.  Coupled-resonator optical waveguide: a proposal and analysis. , 1999, Optics letters.

[8]  Johann Peter Reithmaier,et al.  Optical Demonstration of a Crystal Band Structure Formation , 1999 .

[9]  Shayan Mookherjea.  Dispersion characteristics of coupled-resonator optical waveguides. , 2005, Optics letters.

[10]  Jacob Scheuer,et al.  Coupled Resonator Optical Waveguides: Toward the Slowing and Storage of Light , 2005 .

[11]  Nikolai Gaponik,et al.  Fine structure of coupled optical modes in photonic molecules , 2004 .

[12]  Nicorovici,et al.  Effects of geometric and refractive index disorder on wave propagation in two-dimensional photonic crystals , 2000, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics.

[13]  Shayan Mookherjea,et al.  Spectral characteristics of coupled resonators , 2006 .

[14]  Trevor M. Benson,et al.  Micro-optical resonators for microlasers and integrated optoelectronics: recent advances and future challenges , 2006, physics/0607239.

[15]  Robert W. Boyd,et al.  SLOW AND STOPPED LIGHT 'Slow' and 'fast' light in resonator-coupled waveguides , 2002 .

[16]  I. Khoo,et al.  Finite-size effect on one-dimensional coupled-resonator optical waveguides. , 2004, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[17]  Gérard Tayeb,et al.  Rigorous theoretical study of finite-size two-dimensional photonic crystals doped by microcavities , 1997 .

[18]  Vasily N. Astratov,et al.  Optical coupling and transport phenomena in chains of spherical dielectric microresonators with size disorder , 2004 .

[19]  B G Sumpter,et al.  Three-dimensional photonic "molecules" from sequentially attached polymer-blend microparticles. , 2001, Physical review letters.

[20]  Trevor M Benson,et al.  Accurate simulation of two-dimensional optical microcavities with uniquely solvable boundary integral equations and trigonometric Galerkin discretization. , 2004, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[21]  N. Nicorovici,et al.  Two-dimensional Green's function and local density of states in photonic crystals consisting of a finite number of cylinders of infinite length. , 2001, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[22]  Ulrike Woggon,et al.  Coupled-resonator optical waveguides doped with nanocrystals. , 2005, Optics letters.

[23]  Harry A. Atwater,et al.  Local detection of electromagnetic energy transport below the diffraction limit in metal nanoparticle plasmon waveguides , 2003, Nature materials.

[24]  A. Yariv,et al.  Coupled resonator optical waveguides , 2002 .

[25]  Satoru Ishii,et al.  Photonic molecule laser composed of GaInAsP microdisks , 2005 .

[26]  P. Sewell,et al.  Electromagnetic Energy Transport Above and Below the Diffraction Limit in Mesoscale Coupled-Cavity Photonic and Plasmonic Waveguides , 2006, 2006 International Conference on Mathematical Methods in Electromagnetic Theory.

[27]  Trevor M. Benson,et al.  Photonic molecules made of matched and mismatched microcavities: new functionalities of microlasers and optoelectronic components , 2007, SPIE LASE.

[28]  Wei Cai,et al.  Numerical study of light propagation via whispering gallery modes in microcylinder coupled resonator optical waveguides. , 2004, Optics express.

[29]  T. Krauss,et al.  Miniband transmission in a photonic crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguide. , 2001, Optics letters.

[30]  Ekmel Ozbay,et al.  Investigation of localized coupled-cavity modes in two-dimensional photonic bandgap structures , 2002 .

[31]  P. Sewell,et al.  Optical coupling of whispering-gallery modes of two identical microdisks and its effect on photonic molecule lasing , 2006, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[32]  Mario Martinelli,et al.  Linear and nonlinear pulse propagation in coupled resonator slow-wave optical structures , 2003 .

[33]  Mario Martinelli,et al.  Optical slow-wave structures , 2005 .