Focusing of light by negative refraction in a photonic crystal slab superlens on silicon-on-insulator substrate

We experimentally demonstrate the light focusing by negative refraction in a photonic crystal slab superlens at wavelengths lambda of 1.26-1.42 microm. The photonic crystal slab was fabricated on silicon-on-insulator substrate with an interface structure optimized for low reflection and diffraction losses. The light focusing in the photonic crystal slab was clearly observed through the intentional out-of-plane radiation or scattering of guided light in the slab. The minimum focused spot width was limited to 1.8 microm(1.4 lambda) owing to aberrations. The focusing characteristics were in good agreement with those obtained from photonic band and finite-difference time-domain analyses.     

Slight disorder effects in two dimensional photonic crystal structures

In the actual manufacturing process of photonic crystal structure, unavoidable error can generate slight disorder which may influence the performance of photonic crystal based device. In this work, randomly distributional disorders are applied to the air holes in the photonic crystal structure. Based on this, we investigate the influence of the slight disorder on the photonic crystal band structure and the performance of photonic crystal based devices (waveguide and slab cavity). The studies indicate that the slight disorder provides small influence on the band structure of the photonic crystal. But, the random disorder in photonic crystal waveguide may increase transmission loss obviously when the wavelength of the light and the distribution of disorder break the balance of multiple interferences. Also, the slight disorder can reduce the Q factor of the photonic crystal cavity at a certain degree. The studies may provide some useful guides for further photonic crystal device research.     

Influence of disorders on the focusing property of photonic quasicrystal slab

The influence of disorders in the fabrication process on the focusing performance of two-dimensional optical quasicrystal slab is investigated. Two types of disorders are considered: positional randomness and radius randomness. The change in field distribution for E polarization and H polarization is examined by using the finite-difference time-domain method. We find that for both polarizations disorder has a detrimental effect on the focusing performance of quasicrystal lens. The tolerance of the focusing function to structural disorders is examined in detail. We show that the focusing quality is much more sensitive to the fluctuation of radius than to the randomness of position. These results will be helpful in devising photonic imaging devices based on quasiperiod photonic crystals.     

Negative refraction in a honeycomb-lattice photonic crystal

In this paper we theoretically investigate a photonic crystal with dielectric rods in a honeycomb lattice. Two left-handed frequency regions are found in the second and third photonic band by using the plane wave expansion method to analyze the photonic band structure and equifrequency contours. Subwavelength imaging by the photonic crystal flat lens are systematically studied by numerical simulations using the multiple scattering method. Different from the photonic crystals with noncircular dielectric rods in air, this structure is almost isotropic at the optimal frequency for superlensing. As a comparison, flat slab focusing is also demonstrated at other frequencies in the two left-handed regions.     

Photonic band structure calculations for metal-clad two-dimensional photonic crystal slab

We study the effect of metallic cladding on the band structure of a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab. Band structures of a honeycomb patterned two-dimensional photonic crystal slab, with/without a metal-clad or a perfect conductor clad, are calculated using both the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and the plane wave expansion (PWE) method. We explain the changes of the band structure due to cladding. We also show that the band structure of a metal-clad photonic crystal can be obtained effectively from the odd modes of the air bridge type dielectric photonic crystal slab, thicker than the metal-clad photonic crystal by a factor larger than two.     

Numerical test of the theory of pseudo-diffusive transmission at the Dirac point of a photonic band structure

It has recently been predicted that a conical singularity (=Dirac point) in the band structure of a photonic crystal produces an unusual 1/L scaling of the photon flux transmitted through a slab of thickness L. This inverse-linear scaling is unusual, because it is characteristic of radiative transport via diffusion modes through a disordered medium - while here it appears for propagation of Bloch modes in an ideal crystal without any disorder. We present a quantitative numerical test of the predicted scaling, by calculating the scattering of transverse-electric (TE) modes by a two-dimensional triangular lattice of dielectric rods in air. We verify the 1/L scaling and show that the slope differs by less than 10% from the value predicted for maximal coupling of the Bloch modes in the photonic crystal to the plane waves in free space.     

Defect assisted subwavelength resolution in III-V semiconductor photonic crystal flat lenses with n = −1

We propose a III-V semiconductor photonic crystal slab designed to operate as a n = −1 superlens at λ₀ = 1.55 μm. The structure consists of air holes arranged in a two-dimensional triangular lattice, of period a, nanopatterned in an InP/InGaAsP/InP slab. Exploiting the second pass-band regime (a/λ₀ ∼ 0.31), subwavelength resolutions as low as 0.38λ₀ for planar lenses have been obtained by the insertion of hexagonal nanocavities within the crystal.     

Tunable double-channel filter based on two-dimensional ferroelectric photonic crystals

A tunable double-channel filter is presented, which is based on a two-dimensional nonlinear ferroelectric photonic crystal made of cerium doped barium titanate. The filtering properties of the photonic crystal filter can be tuned by adjusting the defect structure or by a pump light. The influences of the structure disorders caused by the perturbations in the radius or the position of air holes on the filtering properties are also analyzed.     

A new anti-reflection surface structure for photonic crystal slab lens

An optimized surface modification structure for suppressing the reflections at the surfaces of photonic crystal slab lens is reported in this paper. The total reflection of the slab lens with proposed anti-reflection surface structure is reduced to below 0.3% for the incident angle of light less than 48 degrees. The image efficiency of the slab lens for the normal incident Gaussian beam with waist width equal to the wavelength is near 99%.     

Design of photonic crystal superlens with improved image resolution

In this paper, we theoretically investigate the spatial resolution of a triangular two-dimensional photonic crystal superlens. We prove that this resolution can be improved by optimizing the air hole radius as well as the air hole shape. First, it is found that by decreasing the radius of the air holes, the spatial resolution is improved significantly. Next, we demonstrate that using elliptic air holes instead of circular air holes in a triangular two-dimensional photonic crystal can leads to good-quality images and focusing, with effective refractive index n_eff=−1 and enhanced image resolution. It is also shown that for the case of two sources, the resolution of such a photonic crystal lens can be made indeed better than the radiation wavelength.     

Adiabatic coupling between conventional dielectric waveguides and waveguides with discrete translational symmetry

We study adiabatic transformation in optical waveguides with discrete translational symmetry. We calculate the reflection and transmission coefficient for a structure consisting of a slab waveguide that is adiabatically transformed into a photonic crystal waveguide and then back into a slab waveguide. The calculation yields high transmission over a wide frequency range of the photonic crystal waveguide band and indicates efficient coupling between the slab waveguide and the photonic crystal waveguide. Other applications of adiabatic mode transformation in photonic crystal waveguides and the coupled-resonator optical waveguides are also discussed.     

光子晶体表面结构的改变对成像的影响

负折射率材料因为其奇异的特性成为广泛研究的对象,尤其是光子晶体平板的完美成像.硅材料以其良好的物理性质成为当今集成光学领域中应用最广的材料之一.本文以硅介质柱在空气中周期性排列构成六角结构的光子晶体平板为例,运用平面波展开法进行光子晶体能带计算并运用时域有限差分法模拟改变光子晶体平板成像并讨论表面结构对成像的影响.光子晶体平板等效折射率为-1时,通过改变上下侧最外层介质柱的半径或是侧向移动最外层介质柱发现:当光子晶体平板表面结构发生改变时光子晶体平板仍能成像但像点强度发生变化.当光子晶体平板表面结构的改变在一定范围时,所成像的位置发生改变且位置变化符合光子晶体成像经典的Veselago关系;当光子晶体表面结构的变化超过该范围时,所成像与物的相位发生反相同时像点位置发生"巨变",此时Veselago关系已不成立.数值模拟表明:光子晶体平板表面结构的改变可以有效地改变该光子晶体平板所成像的强度、位置和相位.     

异质结构光子晶体的能带特性研究

运用光学传输矩阵理论,研究了异质结构光子晶体的能带特性。结果表明,与周期结构相比异质结构光子晶体可以显著地拓宽光子晶体的光子带隙;在该文提出的结构中引入缺陷,与(1H1L)m(1H)n(1L1H)m光子晶体相比,产生缺陷模式光子带隙范围明显拓宽,适当调整缺陷层的数目、位置和厚度可得到多通道滤波;并研究了实际操作中随机误差带来的影响,随无序度的增大,其带宽基本不变。     

Self-optimization of optical confinement in an ultraviolet photonic crystal slab laser

We studied numerically and experimentally the effects of structural disorder on the performance of ultraviolet photonic crystal slab lasers. Optical gain selectively amplifies the high-quality modes of the passive system. For these modes, the in-plane and out-of-plane leakage rates may be automatically balanced in the presence of disorder. The spontaneous optimization of in-plane and out-of-plane confinement of light in a photonic crystal slab may lead to a reduction of the lasing threshold.     

Air waveguide in a hybrid 1D and 2D photonic crystal hetero-structure

An air waveguide in hybrid one-dimensional photonic crystal and two-dimensional photonic crystal slab hetero-structure is designed. Light propagating in air waveguide can be confined by two-dimensional photonic crystal slab in x-y plane and one-dimensional photonic crystal films in z direction. Theoretical calculations show that air waveguide in the hetero-structure can achieve some functions as 3D PhCs but could be made more easily than 3D PhCs.     

Flexible Control of Light Propagation Using a Novel Photonic Crystal Hetero-Waveguide Based on Silicon-on-Insulator Slab

We demonstrate a photonic crystal hetero-waveguide based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) slab, consisting of two serially connected width-reduced photonic crystal waveguides with different radii of the air holes adjacent to the waveguide. We show theoretically that the transmission window of the structure corresponds to the transmission range common to both waveguides and it is in inverse proportion to the discrepancy between the two waveguides. Also the group velocity of guided mode can be changed from low to high or high to low, depending on which port of the structure the signal is input from just in the same device, and the variation is proportional to the discrepancy between the two waveguides. Using this novel structure, we realize flexible control of transmission window and group velocity of guided mode simultaneously.     

Resonant modes in quantum well structure of photonic crystals with different lattice constants

The resonant modes in a quantum well (QW) structure composed of three slabs of two dimensional (2D) photonic crystals with different lattice constants are analyzed with plane-wave-based transfer matrix method (TMM). It is found that the energy band of the well slab submerged into the band gap of barrier slab is discretized into quantized modes and the number of the resonant modes changes with the well slab thickness. A model structure of asymmetrical photonic QW consisting of two slabs of 2D photonic crystals with different lattice constants and one uniform dielectric slab in between is proposed and the resonant modes in it are investigated with the same method. A useful numerical simulation method for theoretical discussion as well as for practical application about photonic QW structure of photonic crystals with different lattice constants is proposed.     

一种发光二极管模型中无序光子晶体对光输出影响的研究

摘要利用Order-N算法及超晶格技术讨论了位置无序及尺寸无序对石墨点阵柱状光子晶体光子带隙的影响.计算结果表明，对于电场偏振模，光子带隙对尺寸无序更加敏感.在此基础上，利用三维时域有限差分方法进一步讨论了无序光子晶体对石墨点阵柱状中心柱光子晶体GaN发光二极管模型光输出效率的影响.计算结果表明，无序对这种光子晶体发光二极管模型光输出效率的影响较小，且这种影响也是随机的.     

Electromagnetic modes in semi-infinite photonic crystals

In a real photonic crystal, there exist three modes: propagation mode, evanescence mode and surface mode. Using ideal modal, semi-infinite photonic crystals, we study their effects on the transmission spectrum of photonic crystals, respectively. Because there exists only one air–crystal interface in a semi-infinite photonic crystal, no multiple reflection occurs and no evanescent modes and backward-propagating modes exist in this structure. The effects of the evanescence modes are studied by comparing the transmission spectrum of a finite-thickness photonic crystal slab and that of a semi-infinite photonic crystal. In addition, the effects of the backward-propagating modes are investigated using a coated semi-infinite photonic crystal structure. Finally, we study the effects of the surface modes, and find that the transmission spectrum of a semi-infinite photonic crystal is strongly dependent on its termination.     

Physics and applications of photonic crystals

In this article, we investigate how the photonic band gaps and the variety of band dispersions of photonic crystals can be utilized for various applications and how they further give rise to completely novel optical phenomena. The enhancement of spontaneous emission through coupled cavity waveguides in a one-dimensional silicon nitride photonic microcrystal is investigated. We then present the highly directive radiation from sources embedded in two-dimensional photonic crystals. The manifestation of novel and intriguing optical properties of photonic crystals are exemplified experimentally by the negative refraction and the focusing of electromagnetic waves through a photonic crystal slab with subwavelength resolution.