Disorder-induced losses in photonic crystal waveguides with line defects

A numerical analysis of extrinsic diffraction losses in two-dimensional photonic crystal slabs with line defects is reported. To model disorder, a Gaussian distribution of hole radii in the triangular lattice of airholes is assumed.. The extrinsic losses below the light line increase quadratically with the disorder parameter, decrease slightly-with increasing core thickness, and depend weakly on the hole radius. For typical values of the disorder parameter the calculated loss values of guided modes below the light line compare favorably with available experimental results. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.