Low-reflection photonic-crystal taper for efficient coupling between guide sections of arbitrary widths

Abstract : We design and fabricate a new taper structure for adiabatic mode transformation in two-dimensional photonic-crystal waveguides patterned into a GaInAsP confining layer. The taper efficiency is validated by measurement of a reduction of the reflection between an access ridge and a photonic-crystal guide with one missing row from 6% to less than 1%. This taper is then incorporated into a 60° bend; simulations demonstrate a 90% transmission between multimode ports.