Design and analysis of all-optical 4 × 1 multiplexer based on 2D photonic crystal

• Published in: Optics and laser technology 2023-05, Vol.160, p.109080, Article 109080
• Main Authors: Kaur, Sanmukh, Lubana, Anurupa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: All-optical MUX; Beam-interference; FDTD method; Photonic crystals
• ISSN: 0030-3992; 1879-2545
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2022.109080

•An all-optical 4 × 1 MUX designed employing 15a × 15a two-dimensional square lattice of silicon poles in air PhCs.•Refractive index, rod radius and wavelength of operation of the proposed multiplexer are 3.48, 0.38a and 1550 nm respectively.•Compact size with higher values of CR and TR makes the design attractive for optical networking and computing applications. In this paper, we present an all-optical 4 x1 multiplexer (MUX) employing two-dimensional 15a × 15a square lattice of silicon poles in air photonic crystals (PhCs). The proposed device structure has small footprint of 116.28 µm2 and the functionality of the device has been validated by employing finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method. Performance of the MUX has been investigated in terms of contrast ratio (CR) and transmission ratio (TR) as a function of refractive index (RI) and rod radius (RR) and the outputs have been verified through distribution of the optical field at a wavelength of 1.55 μm. The proposed device exhibits CR, TR, and insertion loss of up to 14.7, 6.52 and −8.14 dB respectively. The proposed device finds applications in optical signal processors, optical computing, photonic integrated devices, and optical networking.