FDTD analysis of Talbot effect of a high density grating

Talbot effect of a grating with different flaws is analyzed with the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD method can show the exact near-field distribution of different flaws in a high-density grating, which is impossible to obtain with the conventional Fourier transform method. The numerical results indicate that if a grating is perfect, its Talbot imaging should also be perfect; if the grating is distorted, its Talbot imaging would also be distorted. Furthermore, we can evaluate high density gratings by detecting the near-field distribution.

Talbot effect of a grating with different kinds of flaws

The Talbot effect of a grating with different kinds of flaws is analyzed with the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD method can show the exact near-field distribution of different flaws in a high-density grating, which is impossible to obtain with the conventional Fourier transform method. The numerical results indicate that if a grating is perfect, its Talbot imaging should also be perfect; if the grating is distorted, its Talbot imaging will also be distorted. Furthermore, we evaluate high-density gratings by detecting the near-field distribution with the scanning near-field optical microscopy technique. Experimental results are also given. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Rigorous transmittance analysis of a sub-wavelength Sb thin film lens

We quantitatively analysed the factors contributing to the optical transmission enhancement of a sub-wavelength Sb thin film lens, using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The results show that the transmission enhancement of the dielectric with a Gaussian distributed refractive index loaded in a sub-wavelength circular hole is not only due to the high refractive index dielectric, but also due to the specific distributions of refractive index. It is the first study about the effects of the refractive index distribution on the transmission of a sub-wavelength aperture. This kind of lens has practical applications in the very small aperture lasers and for near-field optical storage and lithography.

超分辨近场结构中二元共晶合金掩膜的工作机制

超分辨近场结构(super-RENS)技术通过在传统光盘结构中插入掩膜结构而实现近场超分辨,是目前最具实用化前景的超高密度光存储技术之一,其中掩膜层的近场光学特性是决定其光存储性能的关键。利用三维时域有限差分法(3D-FDTD)对合金掩膜的近场光强分布进行了数值仿真和分析,提出二元共晶合金薄膜在激光作用下形成的规则微结构可能是以其作为掩膜层的超分辨近场结构光盘产生较高信噪比(SNR)的原因。

A large-area photolithography technique based on surface plasmons leakage modes

An atomic force microscope (AFM) assisted surface plasmons leakage radiation photolithography technique has been numerically demonstrated by using two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (2D-FDTD) method. With the aid of a metallic AFM tip, particular characteristic of the Kretstchmann configuration to excite surface plasmons (SPs) is utilized to achieve large-area patterns with high spatial resolution and contrast, the photoresist could be exposed with low power laser due to the remarkable local field enhancement at the metal/dielectric interface and the resonant localized SPs modes near the tip. Good tolerance on the film thickness and incident angle has been obtained, which provides a good practicability for experiments. This photolithography technique proposed here can realize large-area, high-resolution, high-contrast, nondestructive, arbitrary-structure fabrication of nanoscale devices. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design of novel polarization beam splitter in two-dimensional photonic crystal

We present the design and the simulation of an ultracompact high efficiency polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on the properties of the light waves propagating in straight waveguide and composite structure photonic crystal. The splitting properties of the PBS are numerically simulated and analyzed by using the plane wave expansion (PWE) method and finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The PBS consists of three parts, namely, input waveguide, beam structure and output waveguide. It is shown that a high efficiency and a large separating angle for TE mode and TM mode can be achieved. Owing to these excellent features, including small size and high rate, the PBS makes a promising candidate in the future photonic integrated circuits.

Design and optimization of photonic crystal coupling layer for bi-color quantum well infrared photodetectors

Finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is used for the simulation and analysis of electromagnetic field in the top coupling layer of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP). Simulation results demonstrated the coupling efficiencies and distributions of electromagnetic (EM) field in a variety of 2D photonic crystal coupling layer structures. A photonic crystal structure for bi-color-QWIP is demonstrated with high coupling efficiency for two wavelengths.

Integration of a photonic crystal polarization beam splitter and waveguide bend

In this work, we present the design of an integrated photonic-crystal polarization beam splitter (PC-PBS) and a low-loss photonic-crystal 60 waveguide bend. Firstly, the modal properties of the PC-PBS and the mechanism of the low-loss waveguide bend are investigated by the two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, and then the integration of the two devices is studied. It shows that, although the individual devices perform well separately, the performance of the integrated circuit is poor due to the multi-mode property of the PC-PBS. By introducing deformed airhole structures, a single-mode PC-PBS is proposed, which significantly enhance the performance of the circuit with the extinction ratios remaining above 20dB for both transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarizations. Both the specific result and the general idea of integration design are promising in the photonic crystal integrated circuits in the future. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Resonant Enhanced Wave Filter and Waveguide via Surface Plasmons

The authors present an analysis of plasmonic wave filter and curved waveguide, simulated using a 2-D finite-difference time-domain technique. With different dielectric materials or surface structures located on the interface of the metal/dielectric, the resonant enhanced wave filter can divide light waves of different wavelengths and guide them with low losses. And the straight or curved waveguide can confine and guide light waves in a subwavelength scale. Within the 20 mu m simulation region, it is found that the intensity of the guided light at the interface is roughly four times the peak intensity of the incident light.

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.

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.

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.

Application of fast Pade approximation in simulating photonic crystal nanocavities by FDTD technology

The exact calculation of mode quality factor Q is a key problem in the design of high-Q photonic crystal nanocavity. On the basis of further investigation on conventional Pade approximation, FDM and DFT, Pade approximation with Baker's algorithm is enhanced through introducing multiple frequency search and parabola interpolation. Though Pade approximation is a nonlinear signal processing method and only short time sequence is needed, we find the different length of sequence requirements for 2D and 3D FDTD, which is very important to obtain convergent and accurate results. By using the modified Pade approximation method and 3D FDTD, the 2D slab photonic crystal nanocavity is analyzed and high-Q multimode can be solved quickly instead of large range high-resolution scanning. Monitor position has also been investigated. These results are very helpful to the design of photonic crystal nanocavity devices. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Calculation of light delay for coupled microrings by FDTD technique and Pade approximation

The Pade approximation with Baker's algorithm is compared with the least-squares Prony method and the generalized pencil-of-functions (GPOF) method for calculating mode frequencies and mode Q factors for coupled optical microdisks by FDTD technique. Comparisons of intensity spectra and the corresponding mode frequencies and Q factors show that the Pade approximation can yield more stable results than the Prony and the GPOF methods, especially the intensity spectrum. The results of the Prony method and the GPOF method are greatly influenced by the selected number of resonant modes, which need to be optimized during the data processing, in addition to the length of the time response signal. Furthermore, the Pade approximation is applied to calculate light delay for embedded microring resonators from complex transmission spectra obtained by the Pade approximation from a FDTD output. The Prony and the GPOF methods cannot be applied to calculate the transmission spectra, because the transmission signal obtained by the FDTD simulation cannot be expressed as a sum of damped complex exponentials. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America