Waveguide apparatuses and methods
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorJames E. Spencer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Optical fiber waveguides and related approaches are implemented to facilitate communication. As may be implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments, a waveguide has a substrate including a lattice structure having a plurality of lattice regions with a dielectric constant that is different than that of the substrate, a defect in the lattice, and one or more deviations from the lattice. The defect acts with trapped transverse modes (e.g., magnetic and/or electric modes) and facilitates wave propagation along a longitudinal direction while confining the wave transversely. The deviation(s) from the lattice produces additional modes and/or coupling effects.
Claims23
An optical fiber waveguide comprising:
- a substrate having a first dielectric constant and that includes
- a lattice that includes a plurality of lattice regions having a second, different dielectric constant;
- a longitudinally-extending defect in the lattice that acts with trapped transverse modes including at least one of a magnetic mode and an electric mode, the defect being configured and arranged to facilitate wave propagation along the longitudinal direction while confining the wave transversely and in which a corresponding phase velocity equals the speed of light (TMSOL);
- and
- a set of one or more deviations from the lattice configured and arranged to produce at least one of additional modes and coupling options for the waveguide, the deviations having physical properties that are bounded by a figure of merit.
A waveguide apparatus comprising:
- a substrate having a first dielectric constant;
- a plurality of lattice regions in the substrate, the lattice regions including holes in the substrate and having a second dielectric constant that is different than the first dielectric constant;
- a defect region in the substrate and extending along a longitudinal direction, the defect region being configured and arranged to facilitate propagation of waves, using a trapped transverse mode, along the longitudinal direction while confining the waves transversely;
- and
- at least one deviation region of the lattice regions, configured and arranged to provide at least one additional surface-based propagation mode for the propagation of the waves.
For use in propagating waves via a waveguide including substrate having a first dielectric constant and that includes a lattice that includes a plurality of lattice regions having a second, different dielectric constant, a method comprising:
- facilitating wave propagation along a longitudinal direction while confining the wave transversely in which a corresponding phase velocity equals the speed of light (TMSOL), by using a longitudinally-extending defect in the lattice to provide trapped transverse modes including at least one of a magnetic mode and an electric mode;
- and
- using a set of one or more deviations from the lattice to produce at least one of additional modes and coupling options for the waveguide, the deviations having physical properties that are bounded by a figure of merit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.