A planar four-port channel drop filter in the three-dimensional woodpile photonic crystal.

A compact planar channel four-port drop filter is developed experimentally and theoretically in the three-dimensional woodpile photonic crystal having a complete band gap. This consists of two waveguides separated by a defect in a single layer of the photonic crystal. Frequencies for channel dropping can be tuned throughout the band gap, by changing the size of the defect. Quality factors of similar to 1000 were measured. Simulations demonstrate directional energy transfer between the input and out put waveguides, through excitation of fields in the defect region. The planar nature of the filter is much more amenable to fabrication at optical length wavelengths. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America