Slow pulses in disordered photonic-crystal waveguides

Alexandre Baron (1) , Simon Mazoyer (1) , Jean-Paul Hugonin (1) , Philippe Lalanne (2, 1) , Andrea Melloni (3)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Naphel
2 lp2n-03,lp2n-13
3 DEI - Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione

Using a 3D fully-vectorial coupled Bloch-mode method, we present a systematic study of the transport of slow-light pulses in single-mode photonic-crystal waveguides (PhCW) with a realistic disorder model. For the intermediate regime corresponding to waveguide lengths of the order of the mean-free path (3 dB attenuation), we show that the group-velocity has a strong impact on the pulse broadening and distortion, limiting the practical use of PhCW to group indices below ≈50. For smaller group velocities, the pulse experiences an additional delay and the group-velocity is no longer a meaningful quantity.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]; Electromagnétisme; Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Optique / photonique

Alexandre Baron, Simon Mazoyer, Jean-Paul Hugonin, Philippe Lalanne, Andrea Melloni. Slow pulses in disordered photonic-crystal waveguides. Applied optics, 2011, 50 (31), pp.G113. ⟨10.1364/AO.50.00G113⟩. ⟨hal-00675340⟩