The stability of polarisation singularities in disordered photonic crystal waveguides

TL;DR

This study uses simulations to show that polarisation singularities in disordered photonic crystal waveguides remain stable despite fabrication imperfections, supporting their potential for practical devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates the robustness of polarisation singularities in disordered photonic crystal waveguides through finite difference time domain simulations.

Findings

C-points and L-lines persist despite high disorder levels

Polarisation features stay close to their original positions

Devices exploiting polarisation are feasible with current fabrication

Abstract

The effects of short range disorder on the polarisation characteristics of light in photonic crystal waveguides were investigated using finite difference time domain simulations with a view to investigating the stability of polarisation singularities. It was found that points of local circular polarisation (C-points) and contours of linear polarisation (L-lines) continued to appear even in the presence of high levels of disorder, and that they remained close to their positions in the ordered crystal. These results are a promising indication that devices exploiting polarisation in these structures are viable given current fabrication standards.