Open AccessSlow light in a dielectric waveguide with negative-refractive-index photonic crystal cladding
Author(s) -
Jiayuan He,
Yi Jin,
Zhi Hong,
Sailing He
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.16.011077
Subject(s) - cladding (metalworking) , optics , photonic crystal , refractive index , materials science , slow light , waveguide , group velocity , slab , dielectric , guided mode resonance , negative refraction , optoelectronics , physics , diffraction , diffraction grating , geophysics , metallurgy
A slow light waveguide made of a dielectric slab inserted in a two-dimensional photonic crystal with a negative effective refractive index is proposed and numerically studied. The waveguide may possess modes with zero group velocity, and its frequency varies with the thickness of the waveguide. A linearly tapered left-handed photonic crystal waveguide is also proposed and studied. It is shown that the so-called 'trapped rainbow' proposed by Tsakmakidis, Boardman, and Hess [1] is difficult to realize due to a coupling of forward- and backward-propagating modes near zero group velocity. However, different frequency components of a broadband excitation can still be separated through partial accumulation at waveguide sections of different thicknesses.