Slow Light Propagation in Liquid-Crystal Infiltrated Silicon-On-Insulator Photonic Crystal Channel Waveguides

An SOI-based liquid-crystal (LC)-infiltrated photonic-crystal channel waveguide having rectangular air holes in a Silicon core is proposed-and has an average group index of 43 over a bandwidth of 1.02 THz, with vanishing group velocity dispersion, as well as reduced higher-order dispersion. The possible propagation losses due to coupling inefficiency are also investigated for the proposed structure. It is found that high transmission is obtained for a broad bandwidth from the output of the heterogeneous waveguide finally designed, which consists of an LC-infiltrated PhC slow waveguide surrounded by fast PhC regions on either side. The LC-infiltrated W0.7 PhC waveguide that has been designed for slow light propagation should be highly tolerant to fabrication errors-and has enhanced sensitivity in comparison with conventional PhC waveguides.