Beaming effect in multimode photonic crystal by using coupled waveguides

Beaming effect of a multimode photonic crystal (PC) covered by a waveguide array on the exit plane is investigated theoretically. The simulation results show that the multimode PC can make the incident light split into two beams, which can be regarded as secondary sources radiating light into the waveguide array. As a result, many light beams can be generated in the array by the coupling among the waveguides, and the interference of these light beams after passing the system leads to directional emission. Additionally, the directional emission is greatly affected by the beam distribution on the exit plane of the system. Once the main light beams are formed on the exit plane of the system by modulating the system size, steady beaming effect can be obtained in the horizontal direction. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.