Wideband ultralow high-order-dispersion photonic crystal slow-light waveguide

We propose a two-dimensional photonic crystal line-defect waveguide, in which the two rows of air holes at the two sides of the line defect are infiltrated with dielectric materials. This waveguide exhibits an ultralow high-order-dispersion photonic band. Finite-difference time-domain simulation shows that ultralow high-order dispersion makes an ultrashort Gaussian pulse with width of 0.711 ps or even shorter, to 0.267 ps, propagate without observable pulse broadening and amplitude decrease in a 96 mu m long waveguide. The slow light with group velocity of 0.0239 c in a very wide bandwidth of 1.876 THz can theoretically propagate as far as 711 mu m with tolerable spread. (c) 2011 Optical Society of America