TABLE OF CONTENTS Photonic devices based on 2DPC are principally aimed at forming the basic building blocks of integrated photonics and are designed for in-plane waveguided operation. We recall that these devices are very attractive from the point of view of fabrication, the technological schemes to be adopted being compatible with planar technological approaches. We recall also that the operation of photonic integrated circuits based on 2DPC may be deeply affected by optical losses resulting from unwanted diffractive coupling of waveguided modes with the radiation continuum.
This problem of optical losses, which is considered as hindering the operation of 2D photonic integrated circuits based on 2DPC, can be approached from a completely different perspective: instead of attempting to confine the light entirely within waveguide structures, 2D structures can be deliberately opened to the third space dimension by controling coupling between waveguided and radiation modes. In this approach, exploitation of the optical power is achieved by accurately tailoring optical radiation into free space.
The surface emitting micro-lazer (section 1.6.5) is an example of this approach: coupling between waveguided modes and radiated modes is authorized, but its rate is controled accurately, allowing for vertical emission while retaining the strength of resonance and, therefore, achieving weak threshold power. This is a simple and convincing illustration of a planar technological approach resulting in a photonic device freed from the bidimensional universe.
A major extension of planar technology has recently been proposed, through exploitation of the third ( vertical ) dimension...
