Polarization-Independent Circulator Based on Composite Rod of Ferrite and Plasma in Photonic Crystal Structure

We propose a type of polarization-independent circulator based on a composite rod of ferrite and plasma materials in a two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) slab. Only one composite rod was set at the center of the structure to provide circulation for both TE- and TM-polarized waves. Additionally, to improve the performance of the circulator, three additional rods were inserted to improve the coupling condition between the center magneto-optical microcavity and the corresponding waveguides. Finite element method was used to calculate the characteristics of the structure and the Nelder–Mead optimization method was employed to obtain the optimum parameters. The results show that a low insertion loss (~0.22 dB) and high isolation (~14 dB) can be achieved in our structure for waves of both TE and TM polarizations. The idea presented here may be useful for designing compact polarization devices in large-scale integrated photonic circuits.