Out-of-plane losses of line-defect photonic crystal waveguides

A numerical model is presented for computing the out-of-plane losses of a general class of two-dimensional photonic crystals superimposed. onto a slab confinement structure. The usefulness of this model is demonstrated by calculating the propagation loss of a single-row-defect waveguide composed of hexagonal air holes etched into two different slab structures. The results are interpreted in terms of a simple coupled-mode-theory picture in which loss is due to resonant coupling between the fundamental and certain radiative slab modes. These calculations show that low-loss photonic crystal waveguides should be possible by carefully designing the slab waveguide.