Photonic crystal Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on self-collimation

The authors design a photonic crystal Mach-Zehnder interferometer by utilizing the self-collimated beams and the bending and splitting mechanisms of line defects. Using this interferometer, they investigate the phase shift of the reflected and transmitted self-collimated beams over the line defects. In addition, on the basis of the intensity-asymmetric unidirectional-output design, they demonstrate that such interferometers can function as an intensity detector or an ultrafast optical switch when the material of photonic crystal is nonlinear. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.