Toward low-loss photonic crystal waveguides in InP/InGaAsP heterostructures

Line-defect photonic crystal waveguides exhibit severe propagation losses if they are implemented in semiconductor heterostructures with a weak refractive index contrast. We present, for what we believe is the first time, experimental structures for which we have evidence that fabrication imperfections are not the limiting factor in terms of propagation losses. We demonstrate a loss figure of 335±5  dB/cm, which is an improvement by a factor of about 2 with respect to state-of-the-art values. Simulations show that even lower losses can be obtained with different waveguide geometries. In other words, the dominant loss mechanism is related to the waveguide design, and losses are not expected to decrease upon further optimization of the fabrication process.