The Serpentine Optical Waveguide: engineering the dispersion relations and the stopped light points
Transcript of The Serpentine Optical Waveguide: engineering the dispersion relations and the stopped light points
The Serpentine Optical Waveguide: engineering
the dispersion relations and the stopped light
points
Jacob Scheuer* and Ori Weiss
School of Electrical Engineering Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel *[email protected]
www.eng.tau.ac.il/~kobys/
Abstract: We present a study a new type of optical slow-light structure
comprising a serpentine shaped waveguide were the loops are coupled. The
dispersion relation, group velocity and GVD are studied analytically using a
transfer matrix method and numerically using finite difference time domain
simulations. The structure exhibits zero group velocity points at the ends of
the Brillouin zone, but also within the zone. The position of mid-zone zero
group velocity point can be tuned by modifying the coupling coefficient
between adjacent loops. Closed-form analytic expressions for the dispersion
relations, group velocity and the mid-zone zero vg points are found and
presented.
©2011 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (130.2790) Guided waves; (260.2030) Dispersion.
References and links
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1. Introduction
During the past decade, substantial research efforts were focused on slow light photonic
structures and their applications. One of the most attractive approaches to realize such
structures is to let the light propagate through a chain of coupled cavities. Significant
reduction of the group velocity in such coupled cavity waveguides (CCWs) have been
predicted and demonstrated experimentally. Because CCWs can be realized in chip-scales, the
slowing effect opens up new avenues for numerous integrated optics applications e.g. delay
lines, rotation sensors, optical memories, optical filters, wavelength converters and more [1–
10]. In particular, micro-resonators based slow-light structures received substantial attention
due to their interesting properties and potential applications [11–14]. Much focus was devoted
to two different types of slow-light structures: the CROW (Coupled Resonator Optical
Waveguide) [2,5,15], and the SCISSOR (Side Coupled Integrated Spaced Sequence of
Resonators) [6,16]. Additional structures, exhibiting a combination of the properties of the
SCISSOR and the CROW have been proposed and demonstrated as well [17–20].
One of the most important characteristics of periodic slow-light photonic structures is the
formation of forbidden and allowed frequency bands in the dispersion relations of the
structure. The edges of the forbidden gaps are characterized by very slow group velocity
regimes and stopped-light (vg = 0) at the band-edge. In most of the more extensively studied
slow-light structures (SLSs) such as the CROW and the SCISSOR, the zero group-velocity
points are formed at the edges of the Brillouin zone (i.e. at K = 0 and K = π where K is the
Bloch wavenumber) due to the Bragg resonances and the cavity resonances of the structure.
Consequently, the dispersion relations of these structure exhibit cosine-like shapes and the
ability to engineer and modify these relations is quite limited. Formation of zero group
velocity points inside the Brillouin zone has also been shown to exist in structures allowing
for two distinct, counter-propagating, light-paths such as the side-coupled adjacent resonators
CROW (SC-CROW) [19,20] and coupled photonic crystal waveguides [18]. In these cases the
mid-zone zero group velocity points were found to emerge in the vicinity of the cavity [19,20]
and Bragg [18] resonances. Mid Brillouin zone zero vg points were also found theoretically in
the dispersion relations of optical microcoil resonator structures [21] for inter-winds coupling
levels which exceed a certain value.
In this paper, we introduce a new type of slow-light structure consisting of a snake-like
structure where optical coupling is introduced between adjacent curved sections (see Fig. 1).
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11518
We find that unlike the CROW and the SCISSOR structures but similar to the SC-CROW, the
serpentine optical waveguide (SOW) exhibits stopped-light points within the Brillouin zone.
This is despite the fact that, unlike the SC-CROW, the SOW structure does not explicitly
include resonators (although resonating optical paths do exist) and that the bands in the
structure are formed by the Bragg condition (as in a conventional Bragg stack) stemming
from the optical length of each unit cell. As discussed in Section 3 below (see also Fig. 3), the
spectral response of the SOW is periodical with a free spectral range (FSR) which is
determined by the phase accumulated by propagation along the optical length of a unit cell –
k0neff(2πR + 2LB). The couplers in the structure serve as partial reflectors due to the geometry
of the SOW, similar to the role of the interfaces between adjacent layers in a Bragg stack.
The position of the mid-zone stopped light point in the structure is determined by the
coupling coefficients between the loops of the SOW (see Fig. 1), and therefore can be
relatively easily modified and tuned, thus allowing much flexibility in the engineering and
tailoring of the dispersion relations to specific applications. Similar to the optical microcoil
resonator structure [21], the SOW provides two alternative paths for the light propagating
through it – conventional propagation through the waveguide, and “tunneled” propagation
through the couplers connecting adjacent unit cells. These two alternative routes are the key
for the formations of the mid Brillouin zone zero group velocity regimes.
The existence of a tunable slow group velocity region inside the Brillouin zone is highly
attractive for enhancing gain in lasers [22–26] and light-matter interactions. In Bragg or
CROW based lasers [22–26], lasing is attained only at the band edges while in the structures
such as the SC-CROW and SOW, the lasing point in the dispersion relation can be modified.
Fig. 1. The SOW structure: Unit cell and parameter definitions.
2. Structure parameters and transfer matrix
Figure 1 depicts a schematic of the SOW structure as well as the unit-cell and fields
definitions. The structure is defined by three parameters: 1) The phase accumulation in a
quarter-circle of the loop (section A); 2) The phase accumulation in the curved waveguide
connecting the upper and lower loops (section B); 3) the coupling coefficient, κ, between the
loops. Regarding the third parameter, we note that the structure can be generalized by
allowing the coupling coefficients between the upper and lower loops to be different.
However, such generalization does not modify substantially the properties of the structure and
in order to simplify the analysis we strict ourselves to identical coupling.
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11519
A single unit cell of the SOW is marked in Fig. 1. The field in the cell can be represented
by six amplitude E1..E6 as defined in Fig. 1. The electric field amplitudes at adjacent unit cells
can be connected by a transfer matrix M:
T T
1 1 6 1 61... ...n n n
E E E M E E (1)
where M is a 6 × 6 unitary matrix given by:
01
011
0
10
100
1
01
001
0011
0
00001
0001
0
2)(
2)(
2)(
2)(
)(
)(
ABA
ABA
ABA
ABA
BA
BA
ii
ii
ii
ii
i
i
eie
eie
ei
e
ei
e
ei
i
ei
i
M
(2)
where A and B represent the phase accumulation through sections A and B respectively.
Invoking the Bloch theorem, Eq. (1) can be used to derive the spectral properties of the
structure as well as the field distribution for any set of the parameters.
3. Band structure, dispersion relations and group velocity
According to Bloch theorem the field at each unit cell is related to the field at its neighbors by
a phase shift, i.e. nn EiKE )exp(1
, where K is the Bloch wavenumber and Λ is the length
of a unit-cell. Substitution of the Bloch condition into Eq. (1) yields an eigenvalue problem
which eiganvalues and eigenvectors are the Bloch wavenumber and field solutions:
0 I
iKeM (3)
where I is an 6x6 unit matrix. Introducing Eq. (2) into Eq. (3) yields the characteristic
equation which constitute the dispersion relation of the structure, i.e. the relation between the
frequency and the Bloch wavenumber. Extracting the dispersion relation from Eq. (3) is
laborious but straight-forward:
2 3 2cos(4 2 ) 4 cos ( ) 4 (1 )cos ( ) (1 4 )cos( )A B K K K (4)
Note, that the phase term in the left-hand side of Eq. (4) is the overall phase accumulated
by a wave which propagates along the whole waveguide length of a unit cell – 4A + 2B =
k0neff(2πR + 2LB), where k0 is the wavenumber, neff is the effective index of the waveguide
mode, R is the radius of section A and LB is the overall length of section B (see Fig. 1) given
by LB = 2αR.
As a concrete example we consider an SOW structure consisting of Silicon over insulator
structure where the Si layer is 230nm thick and the waveguide width is 430nm. The radius of
section A is R = 5μm and section B consists of two circular sections with radius R = 5μm and
an angle of α = 58.5°. Note, that the choice of α not only affects the overall length of section
B but also the width of the gap between the waveguide loops and, hence, the coupling
coefficient.
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11520
Figure 2 illustrates the mode profile of the waveguide super-imposed on the index
structure. At λ = 1.55mm the refractive indices of the Si and the silica are respectively nSi =
3.477 and nsilica = 1.4455. The resulting effective index is neff = 2.362 for the lowest TE mode.
Figure 3(a) depicts the dispersion relation of an SOW structure with the above-mentioned
cross-section and coupling coefficient of κ = 0.24. Figure 3(b) depicts the corresponding
normalized group velocity (vg/Λ) for the band which is marked in Fig. 3(a). For simplicity,
the dispersion of the waveguide cross-section and the material was neglected. Nevertheless,
this dispersion can be readily introduced by modifying neff according to the wavelength.
Fig. 2. The mode profile of the waveguide.
As can be expected, the dispersion relations consist of a series of bandgaps and passbands.
The FSR, given by ΔfFSR = c/neffR(2π + 4α), is 2.45THz. Each passband consists of a pair of
mirror image dispersion curves where the symmetry lines are located at frequencies which are
“anti-resonant” with the optical length of the waveguide structure in each unit cell i.e.
frequencies satisfying k0neff(2πR + 2LB) = 2π(m + 1/2) where m is an integer. This can be
easily obtained from Eq. (4) by substituting KΛ = ± π which yields cos(4A + 2B) = 1. The
term “anti-resonant” is in quotation marks because there is no actual resonance or anti-
resonance associated with this optical length.
Fig. 3. Dispersion relation (a) and normalized group velocity (b) for the marked band. The
structure parameters are defined in the text.
Another interesting feature of the dispersion relations shown in Fig. 3 is the emergence of
a zero group velocity point located within the Brillouin zone (at KΛ ± 0.491π for the
parameters chosen in Fig. 3). It should be noted that in the vicinity of the mid-zone zero group
velocity point there are two possible (positive) group velocities for every frequency. For
example, at f = 190.4THz there are two possible group velocities – vg/π = 1.06ps1
and vg/π =
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11521
2.38ps1
. The reason for the two possible group velocities stem for the two paths through
which the light can propagate along the structure – along the waveguide or by tunneling
through the directional couplers. As a result, for a given frequency there are two possible
Bloch modes (with different direct/tunneled propagation combination) which possesses
different Bloch wavenumbers and, correspondingly, group velocities.
Figure 4 shows the dispersion relations of the SOW structure for various representative
coupling coefficients. There are several interesting features which should be noted: 1) Once
the coupling coefficient, κ, exceeds a certain value, a zero group velocity point is formed
within the Brillouin zone; 2) As the coupling coefficient is increased, the zero group velocity
point shifts to larger Bloch wavenumbers, K, in the dispersion diagram, approaching KΛ =
2π/3 for κ1; 3) At κ = 0.5, the two curves forming each transmission band collide at K = 0.
Increasing the coupling coefficient further results in a formation of a crossing of the two
curves.
Fig. 4. The dependence of the dispersion curve on the coupling coefficient.
The features of the dispersion relations can be easily obtained from Eq. (4). Calculating
the derivative of Eq. (4) with respect to ω and substituting vg = (dK/dω)1
yields the group
velocity at each point:
2 3
g
0
sin( ) 12 cos ( ) 8 (1 )cos( ) (1 4 )v
(4 2 ) sin[ (4 2 )]
eff
eff A B eff A B
cn K K K
n L L k n L L
(5)
Substituting vg = 0 to Eq. (5) yields a quadratic equation for cos(KΛ) which solutions
provide the zero vg point:
gv 0
cos( ) (1 4 ) 6K
(6)
For meaningful solution, the absolute value of the right-hand side of Eq. (6) must be
smaller than 1 thus posing a limit on the coupling coefficients for which a zero group velocity
point is formed within the Brillouin zone is formed:
1.0 (7)
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11522
Figure 5 illustrates the position of the mid Brillouin-zone zero group-velocity point as a
function of the coupling coefficient. Substituting κ = 1 in Eq. (6) yields the maximal Bloch
number for which such point is formed – KΛ = cos1
(1/2).
Fig. 5. The dependence of the mid Brillouin zone zero group velocity point on the coupling
coefficient.
It is interesting explore the group velocity vg = dω/dK for κ = 0.1, i.e. at the coupling level
where the mid-zone zero group velocity is formed. Figure 6 depicts the group velocity of the
structure defined in Section 3 for κ = 0.1. As shown in the figure, an inflection point
accompanied by a flat region is formed around K = 0.
Fig. 6. The group velocity of SOW structure with κ = 0.1 vs. the wavenumber (a) and the
frequency (b). Note the formation of the inflection point at K = 0.
4. Finite difference time domain simulations
To verify the properties of the analytic model we studied the structure using finite difference
time domain (FDTD) simulation tool. In order to calculate the dispersion relation of the
structure we simulated a single unit cell with Bloch boundary conditions at x (corresponding
to the horizontal coordinate in Fig. 1) and perfectly matched layers in all other boundaries.
The dimensions and parameters of the structure were as detailed in Section 3.
Figure 7 depicts the dispersion relation of the structure calculated by the FDTD tool. The
stars indicates the results of the simulations while the solid line indicate the corresponding
analytic result based on Eq. (4), where the coupling coefficient and the effective index where
calculated by an FDTD simulation and a TE semi-vectorial finite difference mode solver and
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11523
were found to be neff = 2.362 and κ = 0.245 respectively. The excellent agreement between the
simulations and the analytic model is clear, thus validating the theoretical analysis of Section
3.
Fig. 7. Comparison between the numerically (blue stars) and the theoretically (solid green)
dispersion relations. The structure parameters are defined in the text.
5. Practical considerations – finite SOW structure and propagation losses
The transfer matrix method can also be used for exploring the properties of a realistic SOW
structure, incorporating propagation losses and finite length. Given a finite SOW structure
consisting of N unit cells, one can relate the fields at the output to the fields at the input by a
product of three matrices: 1) an input matrix, connecting the fields at the input to the fields at
the first unit cell; 2) N-unit-cell transfer matrix which is given by MN = MN where M is given
by Eq. (2); and 3) an output matrix, connecting the fields at the last unit cell to the fields at the
output. Note that assuming the SOW is excited from one of its sides, the outputs of the
structures are the transmitted field and the reflected field (see Fig. 1).
When analyzing the properties of a finite structure, the important parameters are the
number of unit cells and the coupling coefficient. Figure 8 depicts a color representation of
the transmission function (|t|2 in Fig. 1) of a lossless SOW structure consisting of five unit
cells for coupling coefficients ranging from 0.01 to 0.99. The dependence of the transfer
function on the coupling coefficient is quite complex. It seems that the SOW response can be
divided into several sub-sections depending on the coupling level. At low coupling levels
(κ<0.3) the transmission function consists of several transmission peaks (see inset 1).
Although similar property is exhibited by several, finite, slow-light structures (e.g. CROW) it
should be noted that the number of the transmission peaks decreases as the coupling
coefficient is increased. This is in contrast to CROWs, for example, in which the number of
transmission peaks is determined solely by the number of unit cells.
At larger coupling coefficients, asymmetric and narrow transmission peaks appear (see
inset 2). These peaks grow wider as the coupling is further increased until they merge with the
central peak and form a relatively flat, “box”-shaped spectral transmission (see inset 3). At
larger coupling coefficients, a rather interesting transmission function emerges, consisting of
three narrow peaks at the center and edges of the transmission band where the central peaks
exhibits an EIT-like transmission profile (see Fig. 9).
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11524
Fig. 8. Transmission spectral response as a function of the coupling coefficient for a 5 unit-
cells long SOW. The rest of the parameters are as in Fig. 4. Insets – transmission function for various coupling levels.
Fig. 9. Transmission spectral response of a 5 unit-cell SOW with κ = 0.9. The rest of the parameters are as in Fig. 4.
In addition to the interesting details of the finite SOW transmission function, the global
dependence of the transmission function on the coupling differs substantially from that of a
CROW. Referring to Fig. 8, note that for very low and very high coupling levels the
transmission function of the SOW approaches almost unity. In addition, the over-all
transmission band becomes narrow as the coupling is increased, reaching a minimum at
κ~0.35 and then broadening again as the coupling is further increased. The reason for this
behavior is that for low coupling levels the SOW approaches a simple curved waveguide
(which does not exhibit structure dependent spectral properties) while for κ1 the strong
coupling provide a shorter route for the light, with basically no back reflections, thus yielding
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11525
an almost unity and wavelength independent spectral transmission. This is in contrast to
CROW where the transmission band monotonically increases when the coupling in increased.
SOW consisting of more unit cells exhibit similar properties although the fine details vary.
Figure 10(a) depicts the transmission function of a lossless SOW structure consisting of seven
unit cells for coupling coefficients ranging from 0.01 to 0.99. Figure 10(b) illustrates a similar
plot for a similar structure with waveguide propagation losses of 1dB/cm.
Fig. 10. Transmission spectral response as a function of the coupling coefficient for a 7 unit-
cells long SOW with no loss (a) and 1dB/cm propagation loss (b).
Referring to Fig. 10(a), the longer SOW structure exhibits spectral properties which are
very similar to those of the five unit-cells SOW. There are some changes in the fine details
though, e.g. in the number of transmission peaks at weak coupling, the coupling levels a
which the “box”-shaped transmission function emerges, etc. but the global properties are
similar. In addition, referring to Fig. 10(b), it should be noted that the introduction of practical
loss levels does not substantially modifies the spectral properties of the SOW. In particular,
the impact of loss can be observed only close to the edges of the transmission band (see also
Section 6 below).
6. Pulse propagation
The results of the band structure analysis provide the necessary information for understanding
the propagation of a pulse through the structure. Understanding the dynamics of pulse
propagation is important for non linear optics applications (the intensity of the light inside the
resonator can be substantially larger than that of the injected signal), and for optical
communication systems, where the information is being transmitted in pulses.
In order to model the propagation of the injected pulse, it is separated into its harmonic
components. The output spectrum is obtained by multiplying the injected spectrum by the
SOW frequency response which is directly extracted from the dispersion diagram (Fig. 4).
The time domain dynamics is then calculated by inverse Fourier transforming the spectrum at
each point in the structure. Figure 11 illustrate the propagation of a 30ps wide pulse through
an SOW with coupling coefficient of κ = 0.15. The central frequency is set to be 191.72THz
(1564.8nm) which is approximately at the center of the slow-light band (the shallow and
linear slope regime of the red curve in Fig. 4) which is formed around KΛ = 0.17π. The linked
avi file (Media 1) shows the temporal evolution of the field in the structure. As seen in the
figure the pulse maintains its shape as it propagates through the structure although some
broadening is also observed. The distortion is formed by the GVD of the structure at the
wavelength of the pulse.
The group velocity of the pulse propagating along the SOW can be extracted directly from
the dispersion relations or from the temporal evolution of the pulse. For the case shown in
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11526
Fig. 11 (κ = 0.15) the group velocity is found to be 0.35 Unit-cells/ps. Taking the length of the
unit-cell to be the over-all length of the waveguide comprising it (i.e. its length for κ = 0 – a
simple curved waveguide), the corresponding group velocity is found to be 0.14 × c.
Reducing the coupling coefficient towards 0.1 would yield slower group velocities.
Fig. 11. Propagation of a 30 ps pulse along a SOW comprising 300 unit-cells. The pulse profile is shown at 100ps snapshots. The group velocity is approximately 0.35 unit-cells per ps
corresponding to vg0.14 × c. media 1 – animation of the pulse propagation (Media 1).
Fig. 12. Phase (a) and amplitude (b) responses of a 7 unit-cell long SOW. The average time
delay is ~40ps yielding group velocity of approximately 0.2 unit-cells per ps.
When the pulse is propagating through a finite structure, the spectral features of the finite
device must be also considered. Figure 12 depicts the amplitude and the phase response of a
SOW consisting of 7 unit-cells, identical in parameters to the infinite structure used in Fig. 11,
for a lossless case (blue) and for 1dB/cm propagation loss (red). The figure is zoomed on the
slow-light band spectral range as discussed above. The important points to note are that even
for non-negligible losses, the structure is quite transparent (only 1.5dB transmission loss)
and that the phase responses are almost identical.
The phase response allows for the extraction of the group delay which is in average over
the pulse bandwidth approximately 40ps. This corresponds to a group velocity of ~0.2 unit-
cells per ps which differs from that of an infinite SOW but within the same order of
magnitude. The differences in the group velocities between the finite and the infinite
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11527
structures is not surprising, in particular because the propagation takes place close to the edge
of the pass band and the finite structure is rather short.
7. Conclusions
We proposed and analyzed a new slow-light structure consisting of coupled loops that form a
serpentine-like optical structure. Unlike the most commonly studied slow-light structure, the
band structure of the SOW exhibits a zero group velocity point located within the Brillouin
zone. The frequency and, in particular, the Bloch wavenumber at which this point is formed is
determined by the coupling coefficient between adjacent loops and is insensitive to the
waveguide cross-section and length of the optical loops.
Transfer matrix formalism (TTF) was developed and was employed for the calculation of
the dispersion relations of the structure. Very good agreement was found between the TTF
and a FDTD analysis of the structure. An almost distortion-less propagation of a 30ps pulse in
the structure is shown at the relatively linear part of the dispersion relation with group
velocity in the order of 0.1 the speed of light in vacuum. Although some distortion is visible,
most of the power is concentrated in the main (leading) lobe and can be used for data
transmission.
An important point which must yet be addressed is the interfacing of the SOW with
external I/O ports. In order to avoid back reflections at the interfaces between the I/O
waveguides and the periodic structure, impedance matching sections must be placed at these
interfaces (like in any finite periodic structure). The design of such sections deserves a
comprehensive study and is, therefore, beyond the scope of this paper.
From the performances aspect, when compared with the CROW and the SCISSOR, all
three devices are linear periodic photonic structures exploiting resonating optical paths to
achieve low group velocity, there are both subjected to similar limitations (see e.g. [27,28]).
In all structures the reduction of the group velocity is attained by forcing the light to circulate
in closed loop, thus effectively extending the optical path. In practice the limitations on the
achievable delays, bandwidth GVD, etc. stem primarily from the technology used for the
realization of the structure (i.e. index contrast, intrinsic losses, etc.) and less from the
specifically employed geometry of the device. Thus one can expect that CROWs, SCISSORs
and SOWs employing similar waveguide structure exhibit similar performances from these
aspects. The uniqueness and advantage of the SOW is that it can exhibit a low GVD zero
group velocity region which can be tuned by the coupling coefficient, thus allowing for much
flexibility and engineering of the dispersion relation and light propagation properties.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology for partially supporting this
research.
#144634 - $15.00 USD Received 22 Mar 2011; revised 2 May 2011; accepted 24 May 2011; published 31 May 2011(C) 2011 OSA 6 June 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 11528