Diffractionless flow of light in all-optical microchips.
We introduce the concept of a hybrid 2D-3D photonic band gap (PBG) heterostructure which enables both complete control of spontaneous emission of light from atoms and planar light-wave propagation in engineered wavelength-scale microcircuits. Using three-dimensional (3D) light localization, this heterostructure enables flow of light without diffraction through micron-scale air waveguide networks. Achieved by intercalating two-dimensional photonic crystal layers containing engineered defects into a 3D PBG material, this provides a general and versatile solution to the problem of "leaky modes" and diffractive losses in integrated optics.
Chutinan
Alongkarn
A
Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S-1A7.
John
Sajeev
S
Toader
Ovidiu
O