Self-imaging phenomena in multi-mode photonic crystal line-defect waveguides: application to wavelength de-multiplexing

We show that the self-imaging principle still holds true in multi-mode photonic crystal (PhC) line-defect waveguides just as it does in conventional multi-mode waveguides. To observe the images reproduced by this self-imaging phenomenon, the finite-difference time-domain computation is performed on a multi-mode PhC line-defect waveguide that supports five guided modes. From the computed result, the reproduced images are identified and their positions along the propagation axis are theoretically described by self-imaging conditions which are derived from guided mode propagation analysis. We report a good agreement between the computational simulation and the theoretical description. As a possible application of our work, a photonic crystal 1-to-2 wavelength de-multiplexer is designed and its performance is numerically verified. This approach can be extended to novel designs of PhC devices. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.