Engineering energy dispersion in photonic crystal waveguides: band gaps and optical birefringence

Summary form only given. The modification of photon energy dispersion by modulating the index of refraction on optical wavelength scales has led to artificial materials - photonic crystals (PC) - with unusual optical properties. The periodicity and amplitude of the index modulation are the key parameters to engineer energy dispersion and hence mode and polarization propagation in such devices. We fabricated PC structures in SiN planar waveguides with triangular lattices producing full PBGs in the visible spectrum for both TE and TM electromagnetic modes. Transmission and reflection experiments allow us to probe both propagating and leaky modes and correlate their-mutual coupling. We have developed a new experimental technique to systematically investigate in a fully quantitative way photon propagation in photonic crystal waveguides. For the first time this allows us to strongly challenge PC theories.