Two-dimensional photonic crystal heterostructure for light steering and TM-polarization maintaining applications

An attractive and realizable scheme of a compact two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal (PhC) heterostructure is proposed for flexible light steering formed by integrating two PhC structures having diverse optical properties. The first PhC allows both TE- and TM-polarized light to propagate through it with minimum transmission loss (TL), whereas the second PhC structure is designed in such a way that TE-polarized light faces a photonic bandgap while self-collimated TM-polarized light travels without any diffraction. The study is conducted via a 2D finite element method. By the distinctive arrangement of both PhC structures, it is possible to obtain a TM-polarization maintaining device that offers a high polarization extinction ratio of similar to 49 dB as well as a compact 180 degrees bend for TE-polarized light with low TL. The proposed study is useful in designing PhC waveguides with sharp bends, which can be employed for multiple applications in photonic integrated circuits.

Automated summary

The study proposes a compact two-dimensional photonic crystal heterostructure for flexible light steering by integrating two structures with diverse optical properties. The arrangement allows for transmission and manipulation of TE- and TM-polarized light, offering potential high resolution and applications.