Effect of a photonic band gap on scattering from waveguide disorder

We derive a general, analytical, coupled-mode theory for disorder-induced scattering in periodic systems that shows that in the experimentally relevant limit of weak disorder, the reflection in a photonic-crystal waveguide is just as low as in a comparable index-guided waveguide. Moreover, since the photonic band gap also blocks radiative loss, the total scattering loss is reduced, and the total transmission is higher. These general results are verified by direct numerical simulations in an example system.

[1]  J. C. Chen,et al.  Quartic perfectly matched layers for dielectric waveguides and gratings , 1995 .

[2]  Steven G. Johnson,et al.  Block-iterative frequency-domain methods for Maxwell's equations in a planewave basis. , 2001, Optics express.

[3]  D. Marcuse.  Theory of dielectric optical waveguides , 1974 .

[4]  L. Kimerling,et al.  Effect of size and roughness on light transmission in a Si/SiO2 waveguide: Experiments and model , 2000 .

[5]  P. Robinson,et al.  Effects of disorder in two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides. , 2003, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[6]  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.

[7]  C. Chan,et al.  Effects due to disorder on photonic crystal-based waveguides , 2003 .

[8]  R. Luebbers,et al.  The Finite Difference Time Domain Method for Electromagnetics , 1993 .

[9]  Russell.  Bragg resonance of light in optical superlattices. , 1986, Physical review letters.

[10]  Steven G. Johnson,et al.  Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light , 1995 .

[11]  Steven G. Johnson,et al.  Linear waveguides in photonic-crystal slabs , 2000 .

[12]  E. N. Economou,et al.  Gap deformation and classical wave localization in disordered two-dimensional photonic-band-gap materials , 2000 .

[13]  Amir Boag,et al.  Sensitivity analysis of narrowband photonic crystal filters and waveguides to structure variations and inaccuracy. , 2003, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[14]  Steven G. Johnson,et al.  Adiabatic theorem and continuous coupled-mode theory for efficient taper transitions in photonic crystals. , 2002, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[15]  Steven G. Johnson,et al.  Perturbation theory for Maxwell's equations with shifting material boundaries. , 2002, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[16]  Thomas F. Krauss,et al.  Planar photonic crystal waveguide devices for integrated optics , 2003 .

[17]  Wim Bogaerts,et al.  Scattering at sidewall roughness in photonic crystal slabs. , 2003, Optics letters.

[18]  Salinas,et al.  Coupled-mode theory for light propagation through deep nonlinear gratings. , 1996, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics.