Open AccessBackscattering and disorder limits in slow light photonic crystal waveguides
Author(s) -
Alexander Yu. Petrov,
Michael Krause,
Manfred Eich
Publication year - 2009
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.17.008676
Subject(s) - photonic crystal , slow light , optics , reflection (computer programming) , total internal reflection , waveguide , photonics , light scattering , group velocity , anderson localization , materials science , coherent backscattering , scattering , physics , optoelectronics , condensed matter physics , computer science , programming language
It is known that slow light propagation in disordered photonic crystal channel waveguides leads to backscattering and localization phenomena. The knowledge of the reflection of a slow light mode at a single disorder defect of the periodical structure can help to estimate the backscattering intensity and the localization length. Here, this Bloch-mode reflection is calculated in a simplified slow light waveguide using an eigenmode-expansion approach. We show that by properly engineering the waveguide, backscattering can be significantly reduced while maintaining the same low group velocity. A strong effect of the mode's anticrossing taking place in photonic crystal line-defects is demonstrated on backscattering. The localization length of slow light waveguides is estimated, which provides fundamental limits for the applicability of slow light waveguides.