Realisation of ultra-low loss photonic crystal slab waveguide devices

In this paper we demonstrate low loss transmission both above and below the primary band-gap for a photonic crystal (PC) super-prism device consisting of 600 lattice periods. By modifying the refractive index of the holes, we reduce overall insertion loss to just 4.5 dB across the entire visible spectrum. We show that the remaining loss is predominantly due to impedance mismatch at the boundaries between patterned and unpatterned slab waveguide regions. Experimental loss measurements compare well with finite difference time domain simulations.