Design of a compact polarization beam splitter based on a deformed photonic crystal directional coupler

In this paper a compact polarization beam splitter based on a deformed photonic crystal directional coupler is designed and simulated. The transverse-electric (TE) guided mode and transverse-magnetic (TM) guided mode are split due to different guiding mechanisms. The effect of the shape deformation of the air holes on the coupler is studied. It discovered that the coupling strength of the coupled waveguides is strongly enhanced by introducing elliptical airholes, which reduce the device length to less than 18.5 mu m. A finite-difference time-domain simulation is performed to evaluate the performance of the device, and the extinction ratios for both TE and TM polarized light are higher than 20 dB.

Mode coupling and vertical radiation loss for whispering-gallery modes in 3-D microcavities

The characteristics of whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) in 3-D cylindrical, square, and triangular microcavities with vertical optical confinement of semiconductors are numerically investigated by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. For a microcylinder with a vertical refractive index 3.17/3.4/3.17 and a center layer thickness 0.2 mu m, Q-factors of transverse electric (TE) WGMs around wavelength 1550 nm are smaller than 10(3), as the radius R < 4 mu m and reach the orders of 10(4) and 10(6) as R = 5 and 6 mu m, respectively. However, the Q-factor of transverse magnetic (TM) WGMs at wavelength 1.659 mu m reaches 7.5 x 10(5) as R = 1 mu m. The mode coupling between the WGMs and vertical radiation modes in the cladding layer results in vertical radiation loss for the WGMs. In the microcylinder, the mode wavelength of TM WGM is larger than the cutoff wavelength of the vertical radiation mode with the same mode numbers, so TM WGMs cannot couple with the vertical radiation mode and have high Q-factor. In contrast, TE WGMs can couple with the corresponding vertical radiation mode in the 3-D microcylinder as R < 5 mu m. However, the mode wavelength of the TE WGM approaches (is larger than) the cutoff wavelength of the corresponding radiation modes at R = 5 mu m (6 mu m), so TE WGMs have high Q-factors in such microcylinders too. The results show that a critical lateral size is required for obtaining high, Q-factor TE WGMs in the 3-D microcylinder. For 3-D square and triangular microcavities, we also find that the Q-factor of TM WGM is larger than that of TE WGM.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in undoped and p-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dots characterized by pump-probe reflection measurements

We investigate the dependence of the differential reflection on the structure parameters of quantum dot (QD) heterostructures in pump-probe reflection measurements by both numerical simulations based on the finite-difference time-domain technique and theoretical calculations based on the theory of dielectric films. It is revealed that the value and sign of the differential reflection strongly depend on the thickness of the cap layer and the QD layer. In addition, a comparison between the carrier dynamics in undoped and p-doped InAs/GaAs QDs is carried out by pump-probe reflection measurements. The carrier capture time from the GaAs barrier into the InAs wetting layer and that from the InAs wetting layer into the InAs QDs are extracted by appropriately fitting differential reflection spectra. Moreover, the dependence of the carrier dynamics on the injected carrier density is identified. A detailed analysis of the carrier dynamics in the undoped and p-doped QDs based on the differential reflection spectra is presented, and its difference with that derived from the time-resolved photoluminescence is discussed. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Numerical study of sub-wavelength plasmonic waveguide

The authors present an analysis of a plasmonic waveguide, simulated using a two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain technique. With the surface structures located on the surface of the metal, the device is able to confine and guide light waves in a sub-wavelength scale. And two waveguides can be placed within 150 nm (similar to 6% of the incident wavelength) that will helpful for the optoelectronic integration. Within the 20 mu m simulation region, it is found that the intensity of the guided light at the interface is roughly two to four times the peak intensity of the incident light, and the propagation length can reach approximately 40 Pm at the wavelength of 2.44 mu m. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of Q-factors between TE and TM modes in 3-D microsquares by FDTD simulation

Mode characteristics of three-dimensional (3-D) microsquare resonators are investigated by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation for the transverse electric (TE)-like and the transverse magnetic (TM)-like modes. For a pillar microsquare with a side length of 2 pin in air, we have Q-factors about 5 X. 103 for TM-like modes at the wavelength of 1550 run, which are one order larger than those of TE-like modes, as vertical refractive index distribution is 3.17/3.4/3.17 and the cororresponding center layer thickness is 0.2 mu m. The mode field patterns show that TM-like modes have much weaker vertical radiation coupling loss than TE-like modes. TM-like modes can have high Q-factors in a microsquare with weak vertical field confinement.

Design of quantum cascade microcavity lasers based on Q factor versus etching depth

The choice of the etching depth for semiconductor microcavities is a compromise between a high Q factor and a difficult technique in a practical fabricating process. In this paper, the influences of the etching depth on mode Q factors for mid-infrared quantum cascade microcylinder and microsquare lasers around 4.8 and 7.8 mu m are simulated by three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) techniques. For the microcylinder and the microsquare resonators, the mode Q factors of the whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) increase exponentially and linearly with the increase in the etching depth, respectively Furthermore, the mode Q factors of some higher order transverse WGMs may be larger than that of the fundamental transverse WGM in 3D microsquares. Based on the field distribution of the vertical multilayer slab waveguide and the mode Q factors versus the etching depth, the necessary etching depth is chosen at the position where the field amplitude is 1% of the peak value of the slab waveguide. In addition, the influences of sidewall roughness on the mode Q factors are simulated for microsquare resonators by 2D FDTD simulation. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Study on Frequency Coherence Properties of Light Beams

This paper presents a new concept of frequency coherence in the frequency-time domain to describe the field correlations between two lightwaves with different frequencies. The coherence properties of the modulated beams from lightwave sources with different spectral widths and the modes of Fabry-Wrot (FP) laser are investigated. It is shown that the lightwave and its corresponding sidebands produced by the optical intensity modulation are perfectly coherent. The measured linewidth of the beat signal is narrow and almost identical no matter how wide the spectral width of the beam is. The frequency spacing of the adjacent FP modes is beyond the operation frequency range of the measurement instruments. In our experiment, optical heterodyne technique is used to investigate the frequency coherence of the modes of FP laser by means of the frequency shift induced by the optical intensity modulation. Experiments show that the FP modes are partially coherent and the mode spacing is relatively fixed even when the wavelength changes with ambient temperature, bias current and other factors. Therefore, it is possible to generate stable and narrow-linewidth signals at frequencies corresponding to several mode intervals of the laser.

Fabrication of high quality two-dimensional photonic crystal mask layer patterns

This work discusses the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystal mask layer patterns. Photonic crystal patterns having holes with smooth and straight sidewalls are achieved by optimizing electron beam exposure doses during electron beam lithography process. Thereafter, to precisely transfer the patterns from the beam resist to the SiO2 mask layer, we developed a pulse-time etching method and optimize various reaction ion etching conditions. Results show that we can obtain high quality two-dimensional photonic crystal mask layer patterns.

Analysis of mode characteristics for equilateral-polygonal resonators with a center hole

Mode characteristics for equilateral triangles, squares, and hexagonal resonators with a center hole are numerically simulated by the finite-different time domain (FDTD) technique. The center hole does not break the symmetry behavior of the original resonators and can result in modification of the mode field patterns and mode Q factors. In an equilateral triangle resonator the center hole can suppress the symmetry state of degenerate states with the merit of single mode operation. In a square resonator, the Q factor can be enhanced for some modes with a suitable size of the hole. For a hexagonal resonator with a side length of 1 mu m and a refractive index of 3.2, the mode Q factors first gradually decrease with the increase of the hole diameter for modes at a wavelength of about 1500 nm, then the modes transform to that of a microdisk with a jump of the mode wavelength as the hole diameter approaches 0.7 mu m. Finally, the mode Q factors greatly enhance as the hole diameter reaches about 1 mu m. The results indicate that the center hole can greatly modify mode characteristics, especially that of the mode Q factor. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Mode Analysis for Equilateral-Triangle-Resonator Microlasers with Metal Confinement Layers

Mode characteristics are analyzed for electrically injected equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) semiconductor microlasers, which are laterally confined by insulating barrier SiO2 and electrode metals Ti-Au. For the ETR without metal layers, the totally confined mode field patterns are derived based on the reflection phase shifts, and the Q-factors are calculated from the far-field emission of the analytical near field distribution, which are agreement very well with the numerical results of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The polarization dependence reflections for light rays incident on semiconductor-SiO2 -Ti-Au multi-layer structures are accounted in considering the confinement of TE and TM modes in the ETR with the metal layers. The reflectivity will greatly reduce with a Ti layer between SiO2 and Au for light rays with incident angle less than 30 especially for the TE mode, even the thickness of the Ti layer is only 10 nm. If the ETR is laterally confined by SiO2-Au layers without the Ti layer, the Fabry-Perot type modes with an incident angle of zero on one side of the ETR can also have high Q-factor. The FDTD simulation for the ETR confined by metal layers verifies the above analysis based on multi-layer reflections. The output spectra with mode intervals of whispering-gallery modes and Fabry-Perot type modes are observed from different ETR lasers with side length of 10 m, respectively.

Analysis of mode characteristics for equilateral triangle semiconductor microlasers with imperfect boundaries

The influence of imperfect boundaries on the mode quality factor is investigated for equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) semiconductor microlasers by the finite difference time domain technique and the Pade approximation with Baker's algorithm. For 2-D ETR with a refractive index of 3.2 and side length of 5 mum, the confined modes can still have a quality factor of about 1000 as small triangles with side length of 1 mum are cut from the vertices of the ETR. For a deformed 5 mum ETR with round vertices and curve sides, the simulated mode quality factors are comparable to the measured results.

Photonic crystal point-shift nanolaser with ultimate small modal volume

A photonic crystal nanolaser consisting of only the shift of two lattice points was fabricated by HJ/Xe inductively coupled plasma etching. The room temperature lasing was observed by photopumping. The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain calculation showed that the lasing mode has small modal volume close to (lambda/2n)(3).

Calculation of propagation loss in photonic crystal waveguides by FDTD technique and Pade approximation

The propagation losses in single-line defect waveguides in a two-dimensional (2D) square-lattice photonic crystal (PC) consisted of infinite dielectric rods and a triangular-lattice photonic crystal slab with air holes are studied by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique and a Pade approximation. The decaying constant beta of the fundamental guided mode is calculated from the mode frequency, the quality factor (Q-factor) and the group velocity v(g) as beta = omega/(2Qv(g)). In the 2D square-lattice photonic crystal waveguide (PCW), the decaying rate ranged from 10(3) to 10(-4) cm(-1) can be reliably obtained from 8 x 10(3)-item FDTD output with the FDTD computing time of 0.386 ps. And at most 1 ps is required for the mode with the Q-factor of 4 x 10(11) and the decaying rate of 10(-7) cm(-1). In the triangular-lattice photonic crystal slab, a 10(4)-item FDTD output is required to obtain a reliable spectrum with the Q-factor of 2.5 x 10(8) and the decaying rate of 0.05 cm(-1). (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Symmetry analysis and numerical simulation of mode characteristics for equilateral-polygonal optical microresonators

Mode characteristics for two-dimensional equilateral-polygonal microresonators are investigated based on symmetry analysis and finite-difference time-domain numerical simulation. The symmetries of the resonators can be described by the point group C-Nv, accordingly, the confined modes in these resonators can be classified into irreducible representations of the point group C-Nv. Compared with circular resonators, the modes in equilateral-polygonal resonators have different characteristics due to the break of symmetries, such as the split of double-degenerate modes, high field intensity in the center region, and anomalous traveling-wave modes, which should be considered in the designs of the polygonal resonator microlasers or optical add-drop filters.

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