title: Photonic molecules: tailoring the coupling strength and sign.
abstract: We demonstrate a large tuning of the coupling strength in Photonic Crystal molecules without changing the inter-cavity distance. The key element for the design is the "photonic barrier engineering", where the "potential barrier" is formed by the air-holes in between the two cavities. This consists in changing the hole radius of the central row in the barrier. As a result we show, both numerically and experimentally, that the wavelength splitting in two evanescently-coupled Photonic Crystal L3 cavities (three holes missing in the ΓK direction of the underlying triangular lattice) can be continuously controlled up to 5× the initial value upon ∼ 30% of hole-size modification in the barrier. Moreover, the sign of the splitting can be reversed in such a way that the fundamental mode can be either the symmetric or the anti-symmetric one without altering neither the cavity geometry nor the inter-cavity distance. Coupling sign inversion is explained in the framework of a Fabry-Perot model with underlying propagating Bloch modes in coupled W1 waveguides.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haddadi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hamel
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beaudoin
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sagnes
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauvan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lalanne
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Levenson
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Yacomotti