All-optical tunability of a nonlinear photonic crystal channel drop filter

We report a numerical analysis of an optically tunable channel drop filter that consists of a resonant cavity side-coupled to a waveguide embedded in a two-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal. We first introduce a numerical method that allows us to calculate the photonic band structure of a nonlinear photonic crystal, as well as the frequency and field profile of cavity and waveguide modes. Then, we use this numerical method to study the dependence of the resonant frequency of a cavity side-coupled to a waveguide, on the optical power in the waveguide. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.