Modal theory of slow light enhanced third-order nonlinear effects in photonic crystal waveguides

In this paper, we derive the couple-mode equations for third-order nonlinear effects in photonic crystal waveguides by employing the modal theory. These nonlinear interactions include self-phase modulation, cross-phase modulation and degenerate four-wave mixing. The equations similar to that in nonlinear fiber optics could be expanded and applied for third-order nonlinear processes in other periodic waveguides. Based on the equations, we systematically analyze the group-velocity dispersion, optical propagation loss, effective interaction area, slow light enhanced factor and phase mismatch for a slow light engineered silicon photonic crystal waveguide. Considering the two-photon and free-carrier absorptions, the wavelength conversion efficiencies in two low-dispersion regions are numerically simulated by utilizing finite difference method. Finally, we investigate the influence of slow light enhanced multiple four-wave-mixing process on the conversion efficiency. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America