Creating large bandwidth line defects by embedding dielectric waveguides into photonic crystal slabs

We introduce a general designing procedure that allows us, for any given photonic crystal slab, to create an appropriate line defect structure that possesses single-mode bands with large bandwidth and low dispersion within the photonic band-gap region below the light line. This procedure involves designing a high index dielectric waveguide that is phase matched with the gap of the photonic crystal slab, and embedding the dielectric waveguide as a line defect into a crystal in a specific configuration that is free of edge states within the guiding bandwidth. As an example, we show a single mode line defect waveguide with a bandwidth approaching 13% of the center-band frequency, and with a linear dispersion relation throughout most of the bandwidth. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.