Title

Enhancing Optical Isolator Performance in Nonreciprocal Waveguide Arrays

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-24-2014

Abstract

We investigate the operation of optical isolators based on magneto-optics waveguide arrays beyond the coupled mode analysis. Semi-vectorial beam propagation simulations demonstrate that evanescent tail coupling and the effects of radiation are responsible for degrading the device’s performance. Our analysis suggests that these effects can be mitigated when the array size is scaled up. In addition, we propose the use of radiation blockers in order to offset some of these effects, and we show that they provide a dramatic improvement in performance. Finally, we also study the robustness of the system with respect to fabrication tolerances using the coupled mode theory. We show that small, random variations in the system’s parameters tend to average out as the number of optical guiding channels increases.

Publisher's Statement

© 2014 Optical Society of America. Referenced here in compliance with publisher policies. Publisher's version of record: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/ol.40.000111

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