Mode coupling between first- and second-order whispering-gallery modes in coupled microdisks

The mode characteristics for two coupled microdisks are investigated by the finite-difference time-domain technique. In the two coupled micodisks, mode coupling between the same order whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) results in coupled WGMs with split mode wavelengths. The numerical results show that the split mode wavelengths of the coupled first- and second-order WGMs can have a crossing point in some cases, which can induce anticrossing mode coupling between them and greatly reduce the mode Q factor of the coupled first-order WGMs. The time variation of mode field pattern shows the transformation between the coupled first- and second-order WGMs. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America

Prediction and suppression of strong dispersive coupling in microracetrack channel drop filters

For a four-port microracetrack channel drop filter, unexpected transmission characteristics due to strong dispersive coupling are demonstrated by the light tunneling between the input-output waveguides and the resonator, where a large dropping transmission at off-resonance wavelengths is observed by finite-difference time-domain simulation. It causes a severe decline of the extinction ratio and finesse. An appropriate decrease of the coupling strength is found to suppress the dispersive coupling and greately increase the extinction ratio and finesse, a decreased coupling strength can be realized by the application of an asymmetrical coupling waveguide structure. In addition, the profile of the coupling dispersion in the transmission spectra can be predicted based on a coupled mode theory analysis of an equivalent system consisting of two coupling straight waveguides. The effects of structure parameters on the transmission spectra obtained by this method agree well with the numerical results. It is useful to avoid the strong dispersive coupling region in the filter design. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Mode analysis and Q-factor enhancement due to mode coupling in rectangular resonators

Modes in rectangular resonators are analyzed and classified according to symmetry properties, and quality factor (Q-factor) enhancement due to mode coupling is observed. In the analysis, mode numbers p and q are used to denote the number of wave nodes in the direction of two orthogonal sides. The even and odd mode numbers correspond to symmetric and antisymmetric field distribution relative to the midlines of sides, respectively. Thus, the modes in a rectangle resonator can be divided into four classes according to the parity of p and q. Mode coupling between modes of different classes is forbidden; however, anti-crossing mode coupling between the modes in the same class exists and results in new modes due to the combination of the coupled modes. One of the combined modes has very low power loss and high Q-factor based on far-field emission of the analytical field distribution, which agrees well with the numerical results of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. Both the analytical and FDTD results show that the Q-factors of the high Q-factor combined modes are over one order larger than those of the original modes. Furthermore, the general condition required to achieve high-Q modes in the rectangular resonator is given based on the analytical solution.

Numerical study of a high-resolution far-field scanning optical microscope via a surface plasmon-modulated light source

In this paper, we analyze light transmission through a single subwavelength slit surrounded by periodic grooves in layered films consisting of An and dielectric material. A subwavelength grating is scanned numerically by the finite difference time domain method in two dimensions. The results show that the transmission field can be confined to a spot with subwavelength width in the far field and can be useful in the application of a high-resolution far-field scanning optical microscope.

Plasmonic surface-wave splitter

The authors present an analysis of a plasmonic surface-wave splitter, simulated using a two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain technique. A single subwavelength slit is employed as a high-intensity nanoscale excitation source for plasmonic surface waves, resulting in a miniaturized light-surface plasmon coupler. With different surface structures located on the two sides of the slit, the device is able to confine and guide light waves of different wavelengths in opposite directions. Within the 15 mu m simulation region, it is found that the intensity of the guided light at the interface is roughly two to eight times the peak intensity of the incident light, and the propagation length can reach approximately 42 and 16 mu m and at the wavelengths of 0.63 and 1.33 mu m, respectively. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

A proposal for low cross-talk square-lattice photonic crystal waveguide intersection utilizing the symmetry of waveguide modes

We propose an approach to construct waveguide intersections with broad bandwidth and low cross-talk for square-lattice photonic crystals. by utilizing a vanishing overlap of the propagation modes in the waveguides created by defects which support dipole-like defect modes. The finite-difference time-domain method is used to simulate the waveguide intersection created in the two-dimensional square-lattice photonic crystals. Over a bandwidth of 30 nm with the center wavelength at 1300 nm, transmission efficiency above 90% is obtained with cross-talk below -30 dB. Especially, we demonstrate the transmission of a 500-fs pulse at 1.3 Am through the intersection, and the pulse after transmission shows very little distortion while the cross-talk remains at low level meantime. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical interleaver based on directional coupler in a 2D photonic crystal slab with triangular lattice of air holes

A small-size optical interleaver based on directional coupler in a 2D photonic crystal slab with triangular lattice of air holes is designed and theoretically simulated using plane wave expansion and finite-difference time-domain method. The interleaver is formed by two parallel and identical photonic crystal slab waveguides which are separated by three rows of air holes. The coupling region is designed below the light line to avoid vertical radiation. The simulated results show that the coupling coefficient is increased and the final length of the interleaver is decreased by enlarging the radius of the middle row of air holes. The transmission properties are analyzed after the interleaver's structure is optimized, and around 100 GHz channel spacing can be got when the length of the interleaver is chosen as 40.5 mu m. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-Q TM whispering-gallery modes in three-dimensional microcylinders

We present a generation condition for realizing high-Q TM whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) in semiconductor microcylinders. For microcylinders with symmetry or weak asymmetry vertical waveguiding, we show that TM WGMs can have a high Q factor, with the magnitude of 10(4) at the radius of the microcylinder of 1 mu m, by three-dimensional numerical simulation. The Q factor of TE WGMs is much less than that of TM WGMs in the semiconductor microcylinders due to a vertical radiation loss caused by mode coupling with the vertical propagating mode. The results open up a possible application of TM WGMs in semiconductor microcylinders for efficient current injection microlasers and single photon sources.

Effect of disorder on self-collimated beam in photonic crystal

We report a numerical analysis of various types of disorder effects on self-collimated beam in two-dimensional photonic crystal. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is used to simulate the process by using a pulse propagation technique. The position disorders along the directions parallel and perpendicular to the incidence are considered. We show that random disorder along the perpendicular direction will have a lesser effect on the performance of the dispersion waveguides than those along the parallel direction. Furthermore, the self-collimation waveguide (SCW) has new characteristics when compared with the photonic crystal line defect waveguide. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Light-propagation characteristics of photonic crystal waveguide based on SOI materials at different polarized states

Straight single-line defect optical waveguides in photonic crystal slabs are designed by the plane wave expansion method and fabricated into silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer by 248-nm deep UV lithography. We present an efficient way to measure the light transmission spectrum of the photonic crystal waveguide (PhC WG) at given polarization states. By employing the Mueller/Stokes method, we measure and analyse the light propagation properties of the PhC WG at different polarized states. It is shown that experimental results are in agreement with the simulation results of the three-dimensional finite-difference-time-domain method.

Distributed mode coupling in microring channel drop filters

The authors present the observation of wide transmission dips in a microring channel drop filter by two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulation. The authors show that distributed mode coupling between the input waveguide and the resonator results in the oscillations of the coupling efficiency and the envelope of transmission spectra with wavelength. The critical coupling as the light just passing through the coupling region is important for optimizing related devices. If the width of the input waveguide is different from that of the ring resonator, the phenomenon can be greatly reduced. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Dipole mode photonic crystal point defect laser on InGaAsP/InP

In this paper, we focus on the dipole mode of the two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal (PC) single point defect cavity (SPDC) lasers and we report the fabrication and characterization of 2D PC SPDC lasers with the structure of adjusted innermost air holes. The photonic band and cavity Q factors are simulated by means of plane wave expansion (PWE) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD), respectively. In order to improve the optical confinement of the SPDC, the diameter of the innermost holes was adjusted. Different lasing performances are observed experimentally. The experimental results agree with the theoretical prediction very well. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

WG-like modes selectivity in a square cavity with posts

We investigate the characteristics of Whispering-Gallery(WG)-like modes in a square cavity with posts by employing the two-dimentional (2D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique combined with the effective index method. The results indicate that the posts can result in mode selection in the WG-like modes. The WG-like modes with odd mode numbers are not much sensitive to the sizes of the posts. However, the quality factor (i.e. Q-factor) of the WG-like modes with even mode numbers decreases sharply with the increasing size of the posts. The decreasing Q-factor is attributed to mode leakage and scattering loss due to the presence of the post. The mode selection increases with the mode spacing of square cavity twice in an optimized strucure.

Line defect splitters for self-collimated beams in photonic crystals

A one-to-two splitter for self-collimated beams in photonic crystal (PC) is designed by inserting one row of line defects. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is used to simulate the light propagation process. Our systematical studies show that the splitting ratio is a function of the airholes size of the line defect radius, and stays fairly constant as a function of frequency. Furthermore, it is shown the numerical results can be analyzed by coupled-mode theory. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A differential recursive scheme for suppression of Peak to average power ratio for OFDM

A differential recursive scheme for suppression of Peak to average power ratio (PAPR) for Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal is proposed in this thesis. The pseudo-randomized modulating vector for the subcarrier series is differentially phase-encoded between successive components in frequency domain first, and recursion manipulates several samples of Inverse fast Fourier transformation (IFFT) output in time domain. Theoretical analysis and experimental result exhibit advantage of differential recursive scheme over direct output scheme in PAPR suppression. And the overall block diagram of the scheme is also given.