Design and analysis of birefringence-free single-mode photonic-crystal planar waveguides with large cross-sections

摘要

In this work, we systematically investigate novel photonic-crystal planar waveguides (PCPWs) with designated elliptic features and large cross-sections. Single-mode (SM) condition for the proposed PCPWs is achieved by introducing sufficient leakage losses between the fundamental and high-order modes (HOMs), and the birefringence-free condition is optimized under SM restriction with modal areas over 600 mu m(2). Such a polarization-insensitive waveguide structure with very large effective SM areas are potentially desirable for applications in high-power waveguide amplifiers and lasers, high-speed optical communications, and interferometric devices.