Experimental demonstration of a four-port photonic crystal cross-waveguide structure

Abstract

We report the design and fabrication of a four-port InP photonic crystal cavity-waveguide structure in which two crossing waveguides intersect in a cavity. Transmission measurements show that by exploiting mode-gap effects, high cross-talk suppression between the two waveguides can be obtained. In addition, the waveguides couple to two distinct cavity resonances with different quality-factors as well as small mode volumes. This structure is promising for realizing ultra-fast, low-energy optical switches or memories. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.