Mini-stop bands in single heterojunction photonic crystal waveguides

Spectral characteristics of mini-stop bands (MSB) in line-defect photonic crystal (PhC) waveguides and in heterostructure PhC waveguides having one abrupt interface are investigated. Tunability of the MSB position by air-fill factor heterostructure PhC waveguides is utilized to demonstrate different filter functions, at optical communication wavelengths, ranging from resonance-like to wide band pass filters with high transmission. The narrowest filter realized has a resonance-like transmission peak with a full width at half maximum of 3.4 nm. These devices could be attractive for coarse wavelength selection (pass and drop) and for sensing applications. Copyright 2013 Author(s). This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4798304]