  e investigate both experimentally and theoretically the waveguiding
properties of a novel double trench waveguide where a conventional single-mode
strip waveguide is embedded in a two dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) slab
formed in silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers. We demonstrate that the bandwidth
for relatively low-loss (50dB/cm) waveguiding is significantly expanded to
250nm covering almost all the photonic band gap owing to nearly linear
dispersion of the TE-like waveguiding mode. The flat transmission spectrum
however is interrupted by numerous narrow stop bands. We found that these stop
bands can be attributed to anti-crossing between TE-like (positive parity) and
TM-like (negative parity) modes. This effect is a direct result of the strong
asymmetry of the waveguides that have an upper cladding of air and lower
cladding of oxide. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of the
effects of cladding asymmetry on the transmission characteristics of the PhC
slab waveguides.
