Slow light in photonic crystal waveguides

In photonic crystal waveguides the group velocity vg of the fundamental guided mode generally decreases at wavelengths close to the cut-off of the mode. This can be inferred from the calculated band diagram (frequency vs. wavevector) since the slope of the mode corresponds to its group velocity. We report on the first experiments where a direct measure of the group velocity is performed; this is done by measuring the time delay of modulated light propagating through a photonic crystal waveguide.

The structure is fabricated in silicon-on-insulator (SOI). A group index (c/vg) of up to almost 200 has been measured. Such a high group index makes the light-matter interaction extremely efficient, opening for new opportunities in micrometer-sized integrated lightwave circuits.