Photonic crystal slab between orthogonal polarizers: details on the guided mode resonance wavelength

Abstract

The transmission spectrum of a photonic crystal slab features sharp dips created by guided mode resonances. The same photonic crystal slab placed between orthogonal polarizers shows peaks at the resonances, but the peak wavelength differs from the guided mode resonance wavelength by a few nanometres. We investigate the working principle of the orthogonal polarizer setup and the origin of the wavelength difference for the case of a TE resonance. We show that the peak in the orthogonal polarizer setup is formed by light from the non-resonant TM polarization. The wavelength difference is caused by the phase shift between the resonant TE and the non-resonant TM polarization. We compare our explanation to a temporal coupled-mode approach and the use of a time-domain window function in FDTD.