Finite element beam propagation method for analysis of plasmonic waveguide

The basic idea of the finite element beam propagation method (FE-BPM) is described. It is applied to calculate the fundamental mode of a channel plasmonic polariton (CPP) waveguide to confirm its validity. Both the field distribution and the effective index of the, fundamental mode are given by the method. The convergence speed shows the advantage and stability of this method. Then a plasmonic waveguide with a dielectric strip deposited on a metal substrate is investigated, and the group velocity is negative for the fundamental mode of this kind of waveguide. The numerical result shows that the power flow direction is reverse to that of phase velocity.

Simulation demonstration and experimental fabrication of a multiple-slot waveguide

A multiple-slot waveguide is presented and demonstrated through theoretical simulation. Taking a double-slot waveguide as an example, the results show a nearly 30% enhancement of optical intensity compared with the traditional single-slot waveguide with the same slot gap width. Therefore, the E-field intensity of the slot can be increased by adding another smaller slot. A double-slot waveguide with oxide and air as low index slot materials is realized experimentally and the formation processes of the slots are analyzed.

A ministop band in a single-defect photonic crystal waveguide based on silicon on insulator

This paper reports that a two-dimensional single-defect photonic crystal waveguide in the F-K direction with triangular lattice on a silicon-on-insulator substrate is fabricated by the combination of electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching. A ministop band (MSB) is observed by the measurement of transmission characteristics. It results from the coupling between the two modes with the same symmetry, which is analysed from the stimulated band diagram by the effective index and the two-dimensional plane wave expansion methods. The parameter working on the MSB is the ratio of the radius of air holes to the lattice constant, r/a. It is obtained that the critical r/a value determining the occurrence or disappearance of MSB is 0.36. When r/a is larger than or equal to 0.36, the MSB occurs. However, when r/a is smaller than 0.36, the MSB disappears.

Spin current diode based on an electron waveguide with spin-orbit interaction

We propose a spin current diode which can work even in a small applied bias condition (the linear-response regime). The prototypal device consists of a hornlike electron waveguide with Rashba spin-orbit interaction, which is connected to two leads with different widths. It is demonstrated that when electrons are incident from the narrow lead, the generated spin conductance fluctuates around a constant value in a wide range of incident energy. When the transport direction is reversed, the spin conductance is suppressed strongly. Such a remarkable difference arises from spin-flipped transitions caused by the spin-orbit interaction. (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.

Monolithically integrated transceiver with novel Y-branch by bundle integrated waveguide for fibre optic gyroscope

A novel Y-branch based monolithic transceiver with a superluminescent diode and a waveguide photodiode (Y-SDL-PD) is designed and fabricated by the method of bundle integrated waveguide (BIG) as the scheme for monolithic integration and angled Y-branch as the passive bi-directional waveguide. The simulations of BIG and Y-branches show low losses and improved far-field patterns, based on the beam propagation method (BPM). The amplified spontaneous emission of the device is up to 10mW at 120mA with no threshold and saturation. Spectral characteristics of about 30 nm width and less than 1 dB modulation are achieved using the built-in anti-lasing ability of Y-branch. The beam divergence angles in horizontal and vertical directions are optimized to as small as 12 degrees x 8 degrees, resulting in good fibre coupling.

Silicon waveguide modulator based on carrier depletion in periodically interleaved PN junctions

We present the design and numerical simulation results for a silicon waveguide modulator based on carrier depletion in a linear array of periodically interleaved PN junctions that are oriented perpendicular to the light propagation direction. In this geometry the overlap of the optical waveguide mode with the depletion region is much larger than in designs using a single PN junction aligned parallel to the waveguide propagation direction. Simulations predict that an optimized modulator will have a high modulation efficiency of 0.56 V.cm for a 3V bias, with a 3 dB frequency bandwidth of over 40 GHz. This device has a length of 1.86 mm with a maximum intrinsic loss of 4.3 dB at 0V bias, due to free carrier absorption. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

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.

Four-channel reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer based on photonic wire waveguide

We designed and fabricated a four-channel reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer based on silicon photonic wire waveguide controlled through thermo-optic effect. The effective footprint of the device is about 1000 x 500 mu m(2). The minimum insertion loss is about 10.7 dB and the tuning bandwidth about 17 nm. The average tuning power efficiency is about 6.187 mW/nm and the tuning speed about 24.4 kHz. The thermo-optic polarization-rotation effect is firstly reported in this paper. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Wavelength conversion based on degenerate-four-wave-mixing with continuous-wave pumping in silicon nanowire waveguide

We present a comprehensive numerical study on the all-optical wavelength conversion based on the degenerate four-wave-mixing with continuous-wave pumping in the silicon nanowire waveguide. It is well known that the conversion efficiency and the 3-dB bandwidth can be greatly affected by the phase-matching condition. Through proper design of the waveguide cross-section, its dispersion property can be adjusted to satisfy the phase-matching condition and therefore effective wavelength conversion can be achieved in a large wavelength range. Generally, the group velocity dispersion plays a dominant role in the wavelength conversion. However, the fourth-order dispersion takes an important effect on the wavelength conversion when the group velocity dispersion is near the zero-point. Furthermore, the conversion efficiency and the 3-dB bandwidth can also be affected by the interactive length and the initial pump power. Through the numerical simulation, the optimal values for the interactive length and the initial pump power, which are functions of the propagation loss, are obtained to realize the maximum conversion efficiency. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel triplexing-filter design using silica-based direction coupler and an arrayed waveguide grating

A new triplexing filter based on a silica direction coupler and an arrayed waveguide grating is presented. Using a combination of a direction coupler and an arrayed waveguide grating, a 1310-nm channel is multiplexed and 1490- and 1550-nm channels are demultiplexed for fiber-to-the-home. The direction coupler is used to coarsely separate the 1310-nm channel from the 1490- and 1550-nm channels. Subsequently, an arrayed waveguide grating is used to demultiplex the 1490- from 1550-nm channel. The simulated spectra show the 1-dB bandwidth of 110 nm for the 1310-nm channel and 20 and 20.5 nm for the 1490- and 1550-nm channels. The insertion loss is only 0.15 dB for 1310 nm and 5 dB for 1490 and 1550 nm. The crosstalk between the 1490- and 1550-nm channels was less than -35 dB. (C) 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI 10.1117/1.3065508]

One-dimensional quantum waveguide theory of Rashba electrons

The ballistic spin transport in one-dimensional waveguides with the Rashba effect is studied. Due to the Rashba effect, there are two electron states with different wave vectors for the same energy. The wave functions of two Rashba electron states are derived, and it is found that their phase depend on the direction of the circuit and the spin directions of two states are perpendicular to the circuit, with the +pi/2 and -pi/2 angles, respectively. The boundary conditions of the wave functions and their derivatives at the intersection of circuits are given, which can be used to investigate the waveguide transport properties of Rashba spin electron in circuits of any shape and structure. The eigenstates of the closed circular and square loops are studied by using the transfer matrix method. The transfer matrix M(E) of a circular arc is obtained by dividing the circular arc into N segments and multiplying the transfer matrix of each straight segment. The energies of eigenstates in the closed loop are obtained by solving the equation det[M(E)-I]=0. For the circular ring, the eigenenergies obtained with this method are in agreement with those obtained by solving the Schrodinger equation. For the square loop, the analytic formula of the eigenenergies is obtained first The transport properties of the AB ring and AB square loop and double square loop are studied using the boundary conditions and the transfer matrix method In the case of no magnetic field, the zero points of the reflection coefficients are just the energies of eigenstates in closed loops. In the case of magnetic field, the transmission and reflection coefficients all oscillate with the magnetic field; the oscillating period is Phi(m)=hc/e, independent of the shape of the loop, and Phi(m) is the magnetic flux through the loop. For the double loop the oscillating period is Phi(m)=hc/2e, in agreement with the experimental result. At last, we compared our method with Koga's experiment. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3253752]

Effects of waveguide length and pump power on the efficiency of wavelength conversion in silicon nanowire waveguides

We point out the use of a wrong definition for conversion efficiency in the literature and analyze the effects of the waveguide length and pump power on conversion efficiency according to the correct definition. The existence of the locally optimal waveguide length and pump power is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally. Further analysis shows that the extremum of conversion efficiency can be achieved by global optimization of the waveguide length and pump power simultaneously, which is limited by just the linear propagation loss and the effective carrier lifetime. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Four-channel reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer based on photonic wire waveguide: erratum

An erratum is presented to correct the calculation of the filtering bandwidth of the micro-ring resonator. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America