Self-induced Anderson localization and optical limiting in photonic crystal coupled cavity waveguides with Kerr nonlinearity

摘要

The transmission behavior of photonic crystal coupled cavity waveguides (CCWs) with Kerr nonlinearity is investigated by numerical simulations based on the finite-difference time-domain technique. The authors find that a nearly ideal optical limiter can be realized by use of a nonlinear CCW. In addition, it is revealed that Anderson localization [Phys. Rev. 109, 1492 (1958)] of the extended states in the impurity band instead of the shift of the impurity band is responsible for the observed optical limiting. Therefore, nonlinear CCWs offer a convenient platform for studying Anderson localization of electromagnetic waves in a controlled fashion and will find potential applications in optical limiting and switching.