Abstract: We propose a general approach to the design of directional couplers in photonic-crystals operating in the slowlight regime. We predict, based on a general symmetry analysis, that robust switching of slow-light pulses is possible between antisymmetrically coupled photonic crystal waveguides. We demonstrate, through numerical Bloch mode frequency-domain and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations that, for all pulses with strongly reduced group velocities at the photonic band-gap edge, complete switching occurs at a fixed coupling length of just a few unit cells of the photonic crystal.

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