Efficient Method for Computing Leaky Modes in Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Waveguides

An accurate and efficient numerical method is developed for computing leaky modes of two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) waveguides corresponding to line defects surrounded by finite PhCs. The method reformulates the eigenvalue problem on a single edge of the defect cell and uses exact boundary conditions at the edges of the surrounding PhC. Unlike previous works for leaky modes, perfectly matched layers or other absorbing boundary conditions are avoided.