A heuristic approach to the realization of the wide-band optical diode effect in photonic crystal waveguides

In this paper a highly efficient optical diode is demonstrated in photonic crystal waveguides with broken spatial symmetry. The structure is made of isotropic linear materials and does not need high power optical beams or strong magnetic fields. While the proposed structure shows almost complete light transmission (>99%) in one direction, it blocks light transmission in the opposite direction. This unidirectional transmission is retained within a wide range of frequencies (>4% of central frequency). In order to achieve an optical diode effect, the optical mode of the waveguide is manipulated by designing an ultra-compact mode converter and an efficient mode filter. The dimensions of the proposed mode converter are less than two wavelengths long.