Polarization control of defect modes in three-dimensional woodpile photonic crystals

The symmetry of a Fabry-Perot-like planar cavity embedded within a three-dimensional (3D) woodpile photonic crystal prevents the observation of polarization effects. In this letter we propose a geometry to break the degeneracy of the Fabry-Perot-like cavity modes by introducing asymmetry. The introduction of a one-dimensional (1D) lattice to the centre of a planar cavity allows for distinct modes parallel (TE) and perpendicular (TM) to the layer. This hybrid 3D-1D-3D lattice structure exhibits a pronounced increase in the quality-factor, and in particular shows an increase of up to 50% more than that of a planar cavity for TM modes. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.