FORK-SHAPED, THREE-PORT OPTICAL CIRCULATOR BASED ON A TWO-DIMENSIONAL PHOTONIC CRYSTAL WITH A TRIANGULAR LATTICE

摘要

The present invention is based on a two-dimensional photonic crystal with three waveguides and a resonant cavity added by creating linear and local defects. Due to the photonic band gap associated with the photonic crystal, electromagnetic signals are confined to the inside of the waveguides and resonant cavity. Through the excitation of dipole modes in the resonant cavity, with an orientation which depends on the intensity of a magnetic field DC applied, the circulator can promote non-reciprocal, clockwise and anti-clockwise signal transmission. The circulator can also fulfil an insulating function and is fork-shaped, allowing greater flexibility when designing integrated optical communications systems.