Group-index independent coupling to band engineered SOI photonic crystal waveguide with large slow-down factor.

Group-index independent coupling to a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) based band-engineered photonic crystal (PCW) waveguide is presented. A single hole size is used for designing both the PCW coupler and the band-engineered PCW to improve fabrication yield. Efficiency of several types of PCW couplers is numerically investigated. An on-chip integrated Fourier transform spectral interferometry device is used to experimentally determine the group-index while excluding the effect of the couplers. A low-loss, low-dispersion slow light transmission over 18 nm bandwidth under the silica light line with a group index of 26.5 is demonstrated, that corresponds to the largest slow-down factor of 0.31 ever demonstrated for a PCW with oxide bottom cladding.