Introduction to Photonics

EC 560
Homework 7
Due: December 8, 2014
Instructor: Prof. Jonathan Klamkin
Email: klamkin@bu.edu

1. Guided Waves.
A waveguide is constructed below from two planar parallel mirrors separated by a distance d,
where the space between the mirrors is free space. Assume that the mirrors are ideal,
meaning they have no reflection loss and that the tangential component of the electric field
vanishes at the surface of the mirror (and inside).
a. Derive an expression for the electric field for TE modes.
b. Find the quantized bouncing angle.
c. Find the quantized transverse component of the wavevector.
d. Determine the propagation constant.
e. Find the number of modes for a given wavelength .
f. Given that d = 1 m, over what wavelength range does the structure support only one
mode (provide an answer in terms of the cutoff wavelength, c.

2. Dielectric Waveguides.
A symmetric dielectric waveguide has core index n1, cladding index n2, and thickness d. The
wavelength of light in the waveguide is .
a. Derive an expression for the numerical aperture of this waveguide.
b. Determine the single-mode condition.
c. Derive an expression for the number of guided modes.