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Dr. Brian West
McGill University
Wednesday April 23, noon
Thirkield Hall (Physics), room 103
Non-Reciprocal Waveguide Gratings
In a conventional waveguide grating, optical power is coupled reciprocally between waveguide modes - that is, power couples from mode p to mode q and from mode q to mode p with equal coupling strength. Recently, there has been significant interest in a variation of the waveguide grating in which this coupling reciprocity is violated, and in the extreme case, in which coupling is allowed in one direction and forbidden in the other. Such a structure has intriguing applications in optical routing as a "drop-less add" or "loss-less drop" multiplexer, or as a unidirectional portal into an optical memory cell. In this seminar, I will explain the theory behind the non-reciprocal waveguide grating, and discuss current efforts to achieve the first experimental realization of such a device.
Refreshments will be served