Minimization of out-of-plane losses in planar photonic crystals by optimizing the vertical waveguide

Abstract
A two-dimensional phenomenological approach previously developed for the modeling of out-of-plane losses in low refractive index contrast planar photonic crystals (PPhCs) is used to study the dependence of the different loss terms on the planar waveguide parameters. It is demonstrated that: (i) Losses can be minimized by designing vertical heterostructures optimized for a given technological process and/or for a given hole shape; and (ii) any small reduction of the loss value has a strong impact on the optical performances of PPhC structures.