Semi-analytic method for slow light photonic crystal waveguide design

We present a semi-analytic method to calculate the dispersion curves and the group velocity of photonic crystal waveguide modes in two-dimensional geometries. We model the waveguide as a homogenous strip, surrounded by photonic crystal acting as diffracting mirrors. Following conventional guided-wave optics, the properties of the photonic crystal waveguide may be calculated from the phase upon propagation over the strip and the phase upon reflection. The cases of interest require a theory including the specular order and one other diffracted reflected order. The computational advantages let us scan a large parameter space, allowing us to find novel types of solutions.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (296 K)Download as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Efficient method to calculate dispersion curves for photonic crystal waveguides. ► Waveguide width may be varied with almost no additional computational expense. ► We design a slow light waveguide with a quartic dispersion relation at band edge.