Nonlinear transmission and light localization in photonic crystal waveguides

We study the light transmission in two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides with embedded nonlinear defects. First, we derive the effective discrete equations with long-range interaction for describing the waveguide modes, and demonstrate that they provide a highly accurate generalization of the familiar tight-binding models which are employed, e.g., for the study of the coupled-resonator optical waveguides. Using these equations, we investigate the properties of straight waveguides and waveguide bends with embedded nonlinear defects and demonstrate the possibility of the nonlinearity-induced bistable transmission. Additionally, we study localized modes in the waveguide bends and (linear and nonlinear) transmission of the bent waveguides and emphasize the role of evanescent modes in these phenomena.