Closure of the stop-band in photonic wire Bragg gratings

Opt Express. 2009 May 25;17(11):8830-42. doi: 10.1364/oe.17.008830.

Abstract

Photonic Wire Bragg Gratings, made by periodic insertion of lateral rectangular recesses into photonic wires in silicon-on-insulator, can provide large reflectivity with short device lengths because of their large index contrast. This type of design shows a counter-intuitive behaviour, as we demonstrate - using experimental and numerical data - that it can have low or null reflectance, even for large indentation values. We provide physical insight into this phenomenon by developing a model based on Bloch mode theory, and are able to find an analytical expression for the frequency at which the grating does not sustain the stop-band. Finally we demonstrate that the stop-band closing effect is a general phenomenon that may occur in various types of periodic device that can be modeled as transmission line structures.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Optical Devices*
  • Refractometry / instrumentation*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Transducers*