All-optical switch based on photonic crystal microcavity with multi-resonant modes

We present a design of all-optical switches based on one-dimensional photonic crystals (1D PhC) doped with nonlinear optical materials. The 1D PhC switch structure is composed of a PhC cavity sandwiched by two accessional PhC microcavities. The center PhC cavity has two resonant frequencies with nearly the same quality factors (Q), while the accessional PhC cavities have the same resonant frequency, which is equal to one of the resonant frequencies of the center cavity. The two accessional PhC cavities cause reduction of Q value in this resonant frequency and result in different Q values of two modes. We realize all-optical switch effect by selecting pump light wavelength at the low Q mode and probe light wavelength at the other mode. The theoretical simulations by using the finite difference time domain method show that the pump light intensity required to realize optical switch effect in the designed switch is 50 times smaller than that in one-dimensional photonic crystals cavity with only one resonant mode.     

Enhanced third harmonic reflection and diffraction in Silicon on Insulator photonic waveguides

Enhanced third harmonic (TH) generation from Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) planar waveguides as well as SOI photonic crystal (PhC) slabs is studied in different angular configurations, both in the visible and infrared energy ranges. In the SOI planar waveguide, the multilayer structure causes the optical properties such as TH reflection to be different from those of bulk silicon samples. This behavior is well reproduced by calculations of TH reflectance.Measurements of third-harmonic reflection and diffraction from one-dimensional PhC slabs etched in the SOI waveguide are also reported. The angular positions of TH peaks at various diffraction orders agree well with those calculated from a nonlinear grating equation. Both reflection and diffraction processes contribute to enhanced TH generation efficiency in the PhC slabs.TH reflectance measurements performed on PhC slabs in the near infrared show a resonant interaction between the incident beam and the photonic structure, dependent on the angle of incidence. This leads to a nonlinear conversion efficiency which is strongly enhanced with respect to that of the SOI waveguide, due to the excitation of strong local fields associated with the presence of photonic modes in the PhC slab.     

Enhanced emission of single quantum dot formed by interface fluctuations in photonic-crystal microcavities

We fabricated photonic-crystal (PhC) microcavities tuned to GaAs quantum dots (QDs) formed by interface fluctuation for the first time and observed the spontaneous emission enhancement in a weak coupling regime. A QD is a very thin GaAs quantum well (QW), and its interface steps exhibit quantum dot-like behavior. The emission intensity from the PhC cavity was stronger than that from the area where no PhC pattern was fabricated and the overall shape of the photoluminescence (PL) agreed with the cavity mode calculated with the three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method. The spontaneous emission enhancement factor was 10.     

Conformal coverage for two-dimensional arrays of microcavites with quasi-three dimensional confinement by distributed Bragg reflectors

Different from conventional three-dimensional confined microcavity fabrication method in which micropillar microcavities were obtained through the etching of planar semicoductor microcavities, we adopted the conformal coverage to fabricate two-dimensional arrays of quasi three-dimensional confined optical microcavities providing both vertical and lateral optical confinement by the distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). Our microcavity samples were directly deposited on the patterned substrates with two-dimensional arrays of air holes. The SEM and cross-section TEM images show that the periodicity of the patterned substrate was still kept after deposition while the growth of DBRs along the sidewalls occurred simultaneously, which provided the transverse optical confinement. In order to probe the optical modes of this kind of microcavities, room temperature photoluminescence signals from prepared microcavities were detected. Three resonant modes were presented and exhibited obvious angular dependence. We attributed these phenomena to quantization of the in-plane wave vector components confined by lateral DBRs.     

Influence of random errors on the characteristics of typical 2D photonic crystal microcavity

We studied theoretically how random errors which may arise during fabrication, including radius and position Errors, can affect the most fundamental properties of typical 2D photonic crystal microcavities (single defect modes in a 2D square lattice). It is shown that the disorder caused by radius and position errors has little influence on the quality factor but has a large influence on the resonance frequency, given the gain width of conventional semiconductors. In addition, the resonant mode distribution is tolerant to large radius errors but sensitive to position errors. PACS 42.70.Qs; 42.79.Ci     

Demonstration of temperature resilient properties of 2D silicon carbide photonic crystal structures and cavity modes

In this paper, photonic crystal (PhC) based on two dimensional (2D) square and hexagonal lattice periodic arrays of Silicon Carbide (SiC) rods in air structure have been investigated using plane wave expansion (PWE) method. The PhC designs have been optimized for telecommunication wavelength (λ = 1.55 μm) by varying the radius of the rods and lattice constant. The result obtained shows that a photonic band gap (PBG) exists for TE-mode propagation. First, the effect of temperature on the width of the photonic band gap in the 2D SiC PhC structure has been investigated and compared with Silicon (Si) PhC. Further, a cavity has been created in the proposed SiC PhC and carried out temperature resiliency study of the defect modes. The dispersion relation for the TE mode of a point defect A1 cavity for both SiC and Si PhC has been plotted. Quality factor (Q) for both these structures have been calculated using finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and found a maximum Q value of 224 for SiC and 213 for Si PhC cavity structures. These analyses are important for fabricating novel PhC cavity designs that may find application in temperature resilient devices.     

Rod type photonic crystal optical line defect waveguides with optical modulations

This paper reports the design and principles of two dimensional rod-type photonic crystal (PhC) line defect waveguides for bandgap based optical waveguiding, static modulation and high speed dynamic optical switchings. Experiments were carried out for both high aspect ratio and slab type configurations. The differences in waveguiding mechanisms for the two configurations resulting from the presence of bottom cladding systems, without out-of-plane symmetries are compared for their advantages and disadvantages. In particular, the designs of non-top-clad optical waveguides of layout sizes within micrometers and operational frequencies centered at the optical communication wavelength of 1550 nm, were investigated for the feasibility of large scale integration by batch fabrication process techniques – such as sub-micrometer optical lithography etc. Based on such techniques, specifically designed dispersions of line defect PhC waveguides within a missing row of PhC rods were accompanied by optical testing structures of suitable coupling modes. Optical measurements of waveguiding coefficients were therefore enabled for the different configurations, together with further static and dynamic modulations. PACS 42.70.Qs     

Optical third-harmonic generation in coupled microcavities based on porous silicon

The resonance features of the third-harmonic generation have been observed in 1D coupled microcavities consisting of three Bragg reflectors and two identical half-wave layers of mesoporous silicon. The third-harmonic intensity increases by a factor of about 10³ in the resonance of fundamental radiation with each of the modes of coupled microcavities. It has been shown that the resonance positions in the angular spectra of the third-harmonic intensity depend on the coupling between microcavities that is determined by the transmission of the intermediate Bragg reflector. In the framework of the transfer-matrix method with nonlinear sources, it has been shown that the basic mechanism of the enhancement of the third-harmonic generation in coupled microcavities based on porous silicon is the constructive interference of the partial third-harmonic waves that are generated by near-surface layers.     

2D and 3D electrically switchable hexagonal photonic crystal in the ultraviolet range

Two holographic lithography systems are demonstrated for easy and large-area fabrication of 2D and 3D photonic crystal (PhC) microstructures in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) by applying a single top-cut hexagon prism. A six-beam system has been used to produce 2D hexagonal PhCs. By adding an additional mirror, a twelve-beam system is demonstrated to fabricate 3D PhCs with ultraviolet (UV) band-gap along the z direction. A good agreement is obtained for measured PhCs structure and theoretical results. Far-field diffraction patterns and electrical switching characteristics of the 2D and 3D PhC HPDLC films have been investigated. PACS 42.15.Eq; 42.40.Eq     

Approximate analytic expressions for calculation of spontaneous emission spectra for a quantum well embedded in a planar microcavity

The control of spontaneous emission is one of important characteristics of a planar microcavity. The integrals in the spherical coordinate for TE and TM modes spontaneous emission spectra of a quantum well (QW) embedded in a planar microcavity are derived with new variables dependent on wavelength and Taylor series including the two polarizations of the vacuum field. The approximate expressions of spontaneous emission in QW planar microcavities are obtained. The approximate results show that spontaneous emission spectra agree well with that in the numerical integral for planar semiconductor microcavities, in which Fermi-Dirac distribution functions of electrons and holes are considered. The main contribution to the spontaneous emission, radiated into all direction, has been found.     

含色散介质的一维光子晶体微腔中简正耦合模的物理图像

对一维光子晶体中的色散介质采用洛伦兹振子模型,对线性层及色散δ层均采用传输矩阵的方法,研究了一维含色散介质的光子晶体微腔中的简正耦合模.通过改变洛伦兹振子和微腔之间的失谐频率,分析了简正耦合模频率的变化情况.在失谐频率比较大时,光与洛仑兹振子间的耦合作用较小,简正耦合模中的一个接近腔模频率,而另一个则接近洛仑兹振子的共振频率;在失谐频率比较小时,光与洛仑兹振子间的耦合作用较大,简正耦合模与未耦合的腔模频率和洛仑兹振子的共振频率之间的差别较为明显.最后通过引进该结构的复有效折射率,对含色散介质的系统,由于带隙中间的共振模被湮灭并分裂为左右两个耦合模,其复有效折射率虚部在原共振峰处跃变为一较大值,而在新生成的两个耦合模附近趋近于零,光与色散介质相互耦合而形成的腔极化激元的物理图像十分清晰.     

Two-dimensional Si photonic crystals on oxide using SOI substrate

Two-dimensional photonic crystals (2D-PhCs) on oxide can be easily incorporated into photonic integrated circuits. Although an asymmetrical structure (air/PhC/oxide) is advantageous in terms of ease of fabrication, it has been pointed out that such a structure may have no photonic band gap (PBG). To clarify the characteristics of the asymmetrical structure, we calculated the band structure using the three-dimensional (3D) FDTD method and measured the transmission characteristics of a fabricated 2D Si-PhC on oxide. The calculations show that we can use a quasi-PBG even in an asymmetrical structure when the PhC thickness satisfies the single-mode condition. The measured transmission characteristics correspond to the calculated band structure and reveal the existence of a quasi-PBG. These results show that the asymmetrical 2D Si-PhC-on-oxide structure can be applied to various optical devices.     

Room temperature single-photon sources based on single colloidal nanocrystals in microcavities

Direct lithography of resist blends, embedding semiconductor colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) is an innovative way to achieve nanopositioning of NCs in quantum-confined optical resonators. In this work, we show a new appealing approach for the fabrication of single-photon sources operating at room temperature by localizing semiconductor colloidal NCs into vertical planar microcavities with lithographic techniques.     

Influence of Dielectric Loss on Quality Factors of Photonic Crystal Microcavity Modes

We numerically investigate the quality factors of two-dimensional （2D） photonic crystal （PC） microcavities using an auxiliary differential equations （ADE） technique in the context of finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method. The microcavities are formed by point defects in the air hole lattice hexagonally patterned in ZnO （zinc oxide） matrix. The quality factors of these microcavities are limited primarily by the absorption of the background dielectric. We show that the ratio between the quality factors of microcavities in lossy and lossless background dielectric depends on the overlap between the field of cavity modes and the absorbing background dielectric in addition to the magnitude of absorption. These results will be helpful when designing and optimizing photonic crystal microcavities formed in lossy medium.     

Photonic bands, gap maps, and intrinsic losses in three-component 2D photonic crystal slabs

We obtain the photonic bands and intrinsic losses for the triangular lattice three-component two- dimensional （2D） photonic crystal （PhC） slabs by expanding the electromagnetic field on the basis of waveguide modes of an effective homogeneous waveguide. The introduction of the third component into the 2D PhC slabs influences the photonic band structure and the intrinsic losses of the system. We examine the dependences of the band gap width and gap edge position on the interlayer dielectric constant and interlayer thickness. It is found that the gap edges shift to lower frequencies and the intrinsic losses of each band decrease with the increasing interlayer thickness or dielectric constant. During the design of the real PhC system, the effect of unintentional native oxide surface layer on the optical properties of 2D PhC slabs has to be taken into consideration. At the same time, intentional oxidization of macroporous PhC structure can be utilized to optimize the design.     

Photonic quantum dots based on Bragg reflectors grown by conformal deposition on patterned substrates

A new approach, that combines the photolithography and conformal deposition techniques, was proposed to fabricate Si-based three-dimensional optical microcavities on patterned substrates. Different from the lateral optical confinement of 3D microcavities by using total internal reflection, Bragg reflectors are used for all three-dimensional optical confinement. From the room temperature photoluminescence spectra, discrete optical modes with obvious side-dependence were observed. With the lateral size decreased from 4.5 μm to 1.5 μm, the modes shift to higher energies and the mode splitting increases, which indicates that 3D optical microcavities act like photonic quantum dots. The numerical calculations of quantized photon states in photonic quantum dots show a quantitative agreement with these observed discrete optical eigenmodes.     

Optics design and fabrication of 3D electrically switchable hexagonal photonic crystal

We demonstrate a holographic approach for easy and large-area fabrication of 3D photonic crystal (PhC) microstructures in a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) by applying a single top-cut hexagonal prism and a seven-beam interference system. Based on the expected photonic band gap of the photonic crystal, the prism parameters are designed and optimized. For example, a prism with a height h=3.73 cm and a cross angle α=66° between the side face and the base is used to fabricate 3D PhC hexagonal symmetrical structures in PDLCs. A good agreement is obtained between the theoretical calculation of the interference intensity and morphological structures. On the other hand, far-field diffraction patterns and electrical switching characteristics are also investigated. PACS 42.15.Eq; 42.40.Eq     

Nonreciprocal switching thresholds in coupled nonlinear microcavities

A concept for the design of nonlinear optical diodes is proposed that uses the multistability of coupled nonlinear microcavities and the dependence of switching thresholds on the direction of incidence. A typical example of such a diode can be created by combining two mirror-symmetric microcavities where modes of the opposite parity dominate. It is shown that a strong nonreciprocal behavior can be achieved together with a negligible insertion loss. To describe the dynamical properties of such systems, a model based on the coupled-mode theory is developed, and a possible implementation in the form of multilayered structures is considered.     

Far field emission of micropillar and planar microcavities lattice-matched to ZnTe

We investigate light emission from ZnTe-based microcavities containing CdTe quantum dots (QDs), with 2D (planar cavity) and 0D (pillar cavities) photonic confinement. The angular distribution from the planar cavity is presented as well as 2D cross-sections of the far field distribution of radiation from the micropillars. The efficient and desirable modification of the isotropic radiation of the QDs is shown for such structures. The diffraction observed is found to be inherent for such experiments with large numerical aperture of the lens and small diameters of the investigated pillars. This diffraction is successfully modeled.     

Polariton trap in microcavities with metallic mirrors

In planar microcavities with metallic mirrors the spectra of cavity polaritons may be strongly modified by the presence of a surface plasmon interacting with transverse-magnetic (TM)-polarized cavity modes. In particular, for certain parameters of the cavity, a minimum in the dispersion of the TM-polarized polariton may develop, which is located in the non-radiative part of the spectrum. This minimum may serve as a very effective trap for polariton population at high non-resonant excitation of the cavity.