Photonic crystal slow light waveguides in a kagome lattice

Abstract

Slow light photonic crystal waveguides tightly compress propagating light and increase interaction times, showing immense potential for all-optical delay and enhanced light–matter interactions. Yet, their practical application has largely been limited to moderate group index values (<100), due to a lack of waveguides that reliably demonstrate slower light. This limitation persists because nearly all such research has focused on a single photonic crystal lattice type: the triangular lattice. Here, we present waveguides based on the kagome lattice that demonstrate an intrinsically high group index and exhibit slow and stopped light. We experimentally demonstrate group index values of >150, limited by our measurement resolution. The kagome-lattice waveguides are an excellent starting point for further slow light engineering in photonic crystal waveguides.