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Compensating intermodal dispersion in photonic crystal directional couplers
Francisco Cuesta-Soto1, Beatriz García-Baños, Javier Martí
1Valencia Nanophotonics Technology Center, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain. fracueso@ntc.upv.es
Optics Letters
|December 14, 2005
Summary
Directional couplers can suffer from pulse breakup due to intermodal dispersion. Careful design of the coupling area can compensate for this dispersion, improving device performance.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Optical Engineering
- Waveguide Devices
Background:
- Intermodal dispersion in directional couplers can lead to pulse breakup and signal degradation.
- This dispersion prevents efficient power exchange between coupler arms and cancels the extinction ratio.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate methods for compensating intermodal dispersion in directional couplers.
- To design a directional coupler that mitigates pulse breakup and maintains signal integrity.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of intermodal dispersion effects.
- Design and optimization of a directional coupler's coupling area.
- Utilizing a genetic algorithm for device optimization.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that careful design of the coupling area can compensate for intermodal dispersion.
- Identified key requirements for a compensating device: inverse intermodal dispersion, balanced supermode coupling, and maximum power transfer.
- Successfully optimized a compensating structure using a genetic algorithm.
Conclusions:
- Compensating for intermodal dispersion is achievable through precise directional coupler design.
- Optimized devices can overcome pulse breakup and extinction ratio cancellation issues.
- The proposed design is suitable for multiplexing-demultiplexing applications.
