Photonic-crystal 180° power splitter based on coupled-cavity waveguides

Abstract

We propose a structure that allows the splitting of electromagnetic waves with a phase shift of 180° between output signals based on photonic crystals. The structure consists of two parallel coupled-cavity waveguides placed in proximity. The performance of the splitting structure is theoretically discussed, evaluated by means of finite-difference time-domain method simulations and experimentally demonstrated at microwave frequencies. As both output paths have the same physical length, the two output signals are synchronized, which is very attractive for splitting high-speed optical signals in photonic-crystal-based integrated circuits.