Abstract
This study introduces an accurate design and optimisation of a passive optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) network encoder using the coupled cavity waveguide (CCW) as an optical delay line. Such CCW has the capability of providing more time delay with minimum encoder size. The proposed design and analysis are based on the two‐dimensional (2D) photonic crystal (PhC) structure. Additionally, two different 2D‐PhC structures are studied, in which a silicon material with an effective refractive index of 3.487 is used. The first structure is a silicon bar in air background, whereas the second one is air holes in a silicon substrate. Furthermore, the behaviour of the proposed 2D‐PhC structures is studied over the wavelength, ranging from 1300 to 1600 nm. Since the structure geometry is simple with a clear operating principle, it is sufficient to use in the photonic integrated circuits. Moreover, the performance analysis of such design is investigated in terms of the bit error rate (BER) calculations. Finally, the results showed that a 21% BER performance enhancement was achieved using the optimised silicon bars in air background encoder model and this model can be utilised for the multimedia applications in the OCDMA networks.