Characterizing photonic crystal waveguides with an expanded k-space evanescent coupling technique

We demonstrate a direct, single measurement technique for characterizing the dispersion of a photonic crystal waveguide (PCWG) using a tapered fiber evanescent coupling method. A highly curved fiber taper is used to probe the Fabry-Pérot spectrum of a closed PCWG over a broad k-space range, and from this measurement the dispersive properties of the waveguide can be found. Waveguide propagation losses can also be estimated from measurements of closed waveguides with different lengths. The validity of this method is demonstrated by comparing the results obtained on a 'W1' PCWG in chalcogenide glass with numerical simulation. © 2008 Optical Society of America