Self-collimation-based photonic crystal Mach-Zehnder add-drop filters

Abstract

Photonic crystal Mach-Zehnder add-drop filters (PC-MZADFs) based on the self-collimation phenomenon in a two-dimensional (2D) PC are proposed and numerically studied using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. Each PC-MZADF is composed of a symmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with an identical filter in each of its two different optical paths. Zizag-box resonators (ZBRs) and Fano resonators (FRs) are employed as the optical filters in rod-type and hole-type PCs, respectively. It is shown that self-collimated beams with the ZBR and FR resonant frequencies can be dropped or added using multiple-beam interference. We also show that the resonant frequencies of the resonators can be adjusted by varying the radii of their rods or holes. Our results indicate that this device design may constitute an efficient approach to light propagation manipulation and increase the application range of self-collimated beams. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.