Design of an all optical encoder using 2D photonic crystals

A new all optical 4x2 encoder is designed using hexagonal photonic crystal ring resonators (PCRR). The encoder which has 4 inputs and 2 outputs is implemented using photonic crystals consisting of silicon rods in air substrate. The basic operation is governed by the hexagonal shaped ring resonator which resonates at a particular wavelength. The encoder uses two such ring resonators having same resonant wavelength and 4 linear waveguides to guide the flow of light. The hexagonal shaped resonators proposed have a unique core structure in the shape of the human eye. The characteristic wavelength of the structure is obtained as 1550nm and this is verified using FDTD and PWE methods. The structure possesses several advantages over its predecessors such as simple and compact design, low input power requirement and small size. The footprint for the proposed structure is 130.6 mu m(2).