The application of the photonic crystal (PC) waveguide (WG) as the light delivery system in the heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) system is demonstrated. The structure consists of a 90° bending PC waveguide and a ridge dielectric waveguide taper coupler. Three-dimensional (3D) models of structures are built and simulated in order to determine light coupling and transmission efficiencies. Geometric parameters including the taper length (LTP), coupler inlet width (WFW), and PC waveguide width (WWG) are investigated. The initial simulation shows that the transmission efficiency of over 90% can be achieved with the coupler integrated with the straight PC waveguide. However, the overall transmission efficiency is substantially reduced to 53.8% when the coupler is attached to the 90° bending PC waveguide. Our analysis shows that the wave mode matching and light decay rate in the waveguide cavity are significant contributing factors. The transmission efficiency increases to around 60.8% after some modification of the bending region.
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