Adiabatic coupling between conventional dielectric waveguides and waveguides with discrete translational symmetry

We study adiabatic transformation in optical waveguides with discrete translational symmetry. We calculate the reflection and transmission coefficient for a structure consisting of a slab waveguide that is adiabatically transformed into a photonic crystal waveguide and then back into a slab waveguide. The calculation yields high transmission over a wide frequency range of the photonic crystal waveguide band and indicates efficient coupling between the slab waveguide and the photonic crystal waveguide. Other applications of adiabatic mode transformation in photonic crystal waveguides and the coupled-resonator optical waveguides are also discussed. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.