Switching devices with spatial and spectral resolution combining photonic crystal and MOEMS structures

One- and two-dimensional photonic crystal slabs have numerous applications in integrated optics. Unfortunately, due to their finite height, their in-plane guided modes can suffer outcoupling losses. Although considered as detrimental in the context of the development of photonic integrated circuits, it turns that the coupling of waveguided modes to radiative modes can be usefully exploited for the manipulation of photons in free space. It is shown in this paper that interaction of radiative and guided modes through a photonic crystal, especially under conditions where the latter correspond to extrema of the dispersion characteristics of the photonic crystal, results in resonance phenomena, which can be used practically for the development of new classes of devices, e.g., combining photonic crystal and microoptoelectromechanical systems structures.