Investigation of cavity modes and direct observation of Purcell enhancement in 2D photonic crystal defect microcavities

We demonstrate our ability to control and manipulate the optical modes in 2D Photonic Crystal Defect cavities and investigate their coupling to InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots. Our results enable us to probe the nature of individual cavity modes and directly investigate cavity QED phenomena. For the lowest mode volume cavities investigated, consisting of a single missing air hole within a hexagonal lattice, we have measured a clear Purcell enhancement of the light-matter interaction in the weak coupling regime. For QDs on-resonance with localized cavity modes this translates to a shortening of the quantum dot spontaneous emission lifetime by a factor 2 when compared to off-resonance dots.     

Quasiparity‐Time Symmetric Microdisk Laser

Recent developments in parity‐time (PT) symmetric systems have ushered in unique photonic devices with enhanced functionalities. While single‐mode laser emission has been demonstrated in such systems, the current designs face severe challenges in applications, either due to their stringent requirement on fabrication precision or nonscalability to larger devices. Here, we demonstrate a general mechanism to achieve single‐mode lasing in coupled cavities, which relies on external mode coupling and overcomes these drawbacks. We find significant gain enhancement for selected modes by external coupling, and our experiments have confirmed the resulting single‐mode laser emission in size‐mismatched photonic molecules (PMs), when only one constituent cavity is pumped. This behavior persists for a wide range of pump power, from transparent threshold to gain saturation, and it is highly tolerant of fabrication imprecisions. In addition, the output intensity of such single‐mode lasers also displays enhancement when compared with the same PMs under uniformly pumping. We believe our results will both advance the understanding of different coupling scenarios in coupled cavities and improve the characteristics of onchip laser sources for practical applications.     

Spontaneous-emission control by local density of states of photonic crystal cavity

The local density of states (LDOS) of two-dimensional square lattice photonic crystal (PhC) defect cavity is studied.The results show that the LDOS in the centre is greatly reduced,while the LDOS at the point off the centre (for example,at the point (0.3a,0.4a),where a is the lattice constant) is extremely enhanced.Further,the disordered radii are introduced to imitate the real devices fabricated in our experiment,and then we study the LDOS of PhC cavity with configurations of different disordered radii.The results show that in the disordered cavity,the LDOS in the centre is still greatly reduced,while the LDOS at the point (0.3a,0.4a) is still extremely enhanced.It shows that the LDOS analysis is useful.When a laser is designed on the basis of the square lattice PhC rod cavity,in order to enhance the spontaneous emission,the active materials should not be inserted in the centre of the cavity,but located at positions off the centre.So LDOS method gives a guide to design the positions of the active materials (quantum dots) in the lasers.     

Spontaneous emission from photonic crystals: full vectorial calculations

Quantum electrodynamics of atom spontaneous emission from a three-dimensional photonic crystal is studied in a full vectorial framework. The electromagnetic fields are quantized via solving the eigenproblem of photonic crystals with use of a plane-wave expansion method. It is found that the photon density of states and local density of states (LDOS) with a full band gap vary slowly near the edge of band gap, in significant contrast to the singular character predicted by the previous isotropic model. Therefore, the spontaneous emission can be solved by conventional Weisskopf-Wigner approximate theory, which yields a pure exponentially decaying behavior with a rate proportional to the LDOS.     

光子晶体对nc-Ge/Si岛发光增强的模拟

在Si基集成光电子学的发展中,高效的Si基光源是人们不懈追求的目标。但是Si材料的间接带隙特性导致其发光效率低,更谈不上受激发射。于是人们探索了多种Si基材料体系来提高Si材料的发光效率,并在不同程度上取得了重要的进展。在众多的Si基发光材料体系中,Ge/Si量子点材料,不仅生长工艺与标准的CMOS工艺有很好的兼容性,而且发光波长能够覆盖重要的光通信波段即1.3~1.55μm,因此成为实现Si基发光器件的重要途径之一。但是目前这种材料的发光效率仍很低,所以提高其发光效率自然成为人们关注的焦点。如果将光子晶体引入到nc-Ge/Si材料中,它不仅可以改变材料本身的自发发射特性,而且可以改变发射的光子的提取效率,从而使材料的发光效率得到增强。提出了在Ge/Si量子点材料中引入光子晶体结构来提高其发光效率,包括光子晶体点缺陷腔结构和带边模式工作的完整光子晶体结构,并从理论上分析了发光效率提高的原理。针对发光波长在1.5μm附近的材料结构,模拟出了相应的光子晶体的结构参数。从模拟结果可以看出,对于缺陷腔的光子晶体结构,采用单点缺陷微腔很好地实现了单模运作,但是微腔内有源材料的体积很小,因此得到的发光效率很低。而采用耦合缺陷腔的结构和H₂腔都增加了腔内有源区的体积。但是耦合腔与H₂腔相比,谐振腔模减少,主谐振模式的峰值强度增加,更容易实现单模发光。因而更适用于提高nc-Ge/Si的发光效率。而带边模式工作的光子晶体结构,尺寸较大,不需引入缺陷,工艺上更容易实现。     

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.     

Charge controlled self-assembled quantum dots coupled to photonic crystal nanocavities

The system of charge controlled self-assembled quantum dots coupled to high-Q photonic crystal cavity modes is studied. The quantum dots are embedded in a p-i-n diode structure. Different designs of photonic crystal cavities are used, namely H1 and L3 and the Purcell effect is demonstrated. Furthermore, the fine tuning of the H1 cavity design is studied in order to achieve far field emission profiles that result in higher collection efficiency. An increase in the overall signal from the quantum dot when it is coupled to a cavity is observed, due to the Purcell effect and the improved collection efficiency. This together with the deterministic charging of the quantum dot that is demonstrated, can be used for a single electron spin measurement.     

Contour of the attenuated length of an evanescent wave at constant frequency within a band gap of photonic crystal

The plane wave method is normally applied to determine the eigenfrequency of a two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal. A slight change to this eigenvalue equation makes the wave number its eigenvalue providing a direct means to determine the attenuated length of the evanescent modes at the frequency within the photonic band gap. The contour of the length of attenuation of the evanescent modes in a square lattice can be determined using the proposed wave number eigenvalue equation. The wave number eigenvalue equation for the two-dimensional (3D) photonic crystal can also be obtained using a derivation similar to that for the 2D photonic crystal. Possible applications of the proposed calculation-method are presented.     

Dynamics of spontaneous emission from SiN with two-dimensional photonic crystals

We investigated the dynamics of spontaneous emission from a photonic crystal etched into a SiN slab. After fitting the decay curves of the emission to double exponential functions, we divided the dynamic process of the spontaneous emission into a fast process and a slow process. It was observed that the presence of the photonic crystal increased the proportion of the fast decay component, and consequently, the emission rate and time-integrated emission intensity were also enhanced. These enhancements were a result of the coupling of the guide modes to the leaky modes of the photonic crystal slab waveguide.     

具有态守恒赝隙的光子晶体中两能级原子自发辐射的增强与抑制

论证了在赝带隙光子晶体中存在一个全频率域态总数守恒规则，在完全带隙光子晶体中还存在一个局域态总数守恒规则.态总数守恒规则指出，如果一个光子晶体的态密度在某些频率范围存在相对于等效介质态密度的谷，则一定由其他频率范围内相对于等效介质态密度的峰来补偿.使用符合态总数守恒规则的态密度模型，解释了态密度调制导致的自发辐射谱增强、抑制、变窄、红移、蓝移以及谱分裂等光子晶体中的量子光学现象.该理论比较适合研究在具有赝带隙的光子晶体中大量随机分布的发光原子或分子的自发辐射行为. 关键词： 光子晶体 自发辐射 态密度 光子赝带隙     

Controlled coupling of NV defect centers to plasmonic and photonic nanostructures

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect centers in diamond have recently emerged as promising candidates for a number of applications in the fields of quantum optics and quantum information, such as single photon generation and spin qubit operations. The performance of these defect centers can strongly be enhanced through coupling to plasmonic and photonic nanostructures, such as metal particles and optical microcavities. Here, we demonstrate the controlled assembly of such hybrid structures via manipulation with scanning near-field probes. In particular, we investigate the plasmonic enhancement of the single photon emission through coupling to gold nanospheres as well as the coupling of diamond nanocrystals to the optical modes of microsphere resonators and photonic crystal cavities. These systems represent prototypes of fundamental nanophotonic/plasmonic elements and provide control on the generation and coherent transfer of photons on the level of a single quantum emitter.     

光子晶体在半导体激光器中的应用

激光的发明，将人类带入光通信、光存储、光显示的高科技文明中，随着高科技的不断发展、进步和应用范围的不断扩大，对激光的要求更高，例如低阈值、高效率、高亮度、高速、小体积、好的模式特性等，这些要求在现有的传统激光器理论及技术中是难以达到的。但是当人们将光子晶体的理论与现有激光物理和技术相结合时，则有望突破传统激光器的性能瓶颈。例如，提高自发辐射速率，同时获得更高的自发辐射向受激辐射的耦合效率，实现激光器的无阈值工作；利用光子晶体对光子态的调制作用，可以获得比传统激光器大几个数量级的光学腔品质因子，大幅度提高激光的亮度、单色性；结合光子晶体微腔及其显著增加的光学腔品质因子，可以提高激光器的调制速率等，因此，人们预期光子晶体科学与技术将成为未来光电子领域发展的核心之一。文章介绍了光子晶体在半导体激光器中的应用，指出光子晶体科学技术引入发展了几十年的半导体激光器中，使半导体激光器展现出更加优异的性能。最后文章作者展望了光子晶体激光器的未来发展和应用的方向。     

Phonon-mediated coupling of InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dot excitons to photonic crystal cavities

We demonstrate that the emission characteristics of site-controlled InGaAs/GaAs single quantum dots embedded in photonic crystal slab cavities correspond to single confined excitons coupled to cavity modes, unlike previous reports of similar systems based on self-assembled quantum dots. By using polarization-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy at different temperatures and a theoretical model, we show that the exciton-cavity interaction range is limited to the phonon sidebands. Photon-correlation and pump-power dependence experiments under nonresonant excitation conditions further establish that the cavity is fed only by a single exciton.     

Diffractionless flow of light in all-optical microchips

We introduce the concept of a hybrid 2D-3D photonic band gap (PBG) heterostructure which enables both complete control of spontaneous emission of light from atoms and planar light-wave propagation in engineered wavelength-scale microcircuits. Using three-dimensional (3D) light localization, this heterostructure enables flow of light without diffraction through micron-scale air waveguide networks. Achieved by intercalating two-dimensional photonic crystal layers containing engineered defects into a 3D PBG material, this provides a general and versatile solution to the problem of "leaky modes" and diffractive losses in integrated optics.     

Theoretical study of enhancement and suppression of the fluorescent spectra of dye molecules in a photonic crystal with a pseudogap

We have investigated the analytical forms of the photonic density of states (DOS) in a photonic crystal in the interested frequency regime according to the rule of state conservation in a photonic crystal with pseudogaps, which states that, if a valley of the DOS appears in some range of frequencies, it must be compensated for by increasing over some other ranges. By using a model DOS with a state-conservative photonic pseudogap, we have also investigated the enhancement and suppression of spontaneous emission of two-level atoms with different frequency positions and widths of emission spectra in a state-conservative electromagnetic reservoir; and the DOS-induced suppression, enhancement, narrowing and redshifting or blueshifting of spontaneous emission spectra are naturally obtained.     

Polarization properties of dipolelike defect modes in photonic crystal nanocavities

Far-field measurements of the in-plane polarization properties of spontaneous emission from optical nanocavities formed in two-dimensional photonic crystal slab waveguides are presented. A strong polarization signature, even subthreshold, is found for a pair of highly localized dipolelike resonant modes. This polarization signature is used to study the effects of symmetry lowering within the cavity.     

Laser nanosources based on planar photonic crystals as new platforms for nanophotonic devices

Two-dimensional photonic crystal lasers have been fabricated on III–V semiconductor slabs. Tuning of the spontaneous emission in micro and nanocavities has been achieved by accurate control of the slab thickness. Different structures, some of them of new application to photonic crystal lasers, have been fabricated like the Suzuki-phase or the coupled-cavity ring-like resonators. Laser emission has been obtained by pulsed optical pumping. Optical characterization of the lasing modes have been performed showing one or more laser peaks centred around 1.55 μm. Far field characterization of the emission pattern has been realized showing different patterns depending on the geometrical shape of the structures. These kinds of devices may be used as efficient nanolaser sources for optical communications or optical sensors.     

Controlling the spontaneous emission rate of single quantum dots in a two-dimensional photonic crystal

We observe large spontaneous emission rate modification of individual InAs quantum dots (QDs) in a 2D photonic crystal with a modified, high-Q single-defect cavity. Compared to QDs in a bulk semiconductor, QDs that are resonant with the cavity show an emission rate increase of up to a factor of 8. In contrast, off-resonant QDs indicate up to fivefold rate quenching as the local density of optical states is diminished in the photonic crystal. In both cases, we demonstrate photon antibunching, showing that the structure represents an on-demand single photon source with a pulse duration from 210 ps to 8 ns. We explain the suppression of QD emission rate using finite difference time domain simulations and find good agreement with experiment.     

X波段2维金属光子晶体的加速结构

 光子晶体加速结构能够有效地阻尼高频率加速管中的尾场,对高能加速器中因尾场引起的束流不稳定性起到抑制作用。探索了X波段2维金属光子晶体微波加速结构的研制方法,用机械加工的方式制作了较高品质因数的2维光子晶体结构谐振腔。理论计算表明,在光子晶体结构谐振腔外围放置吸波材料,可有效地吸收加速结构中的类TM11偶极模等高次模,而对加速主模类TM01模影响较小。设计和制作了工作频率为11.42 GHz,由4个腔构成的X波段2维金属光子晶体行波加速器,实验结果与数值模拟计算值吻合较好。     

High Q vertical surface emitting photonic crystal surface-mode cavities with periodic perturbation

We introduce a periodical perturbation to realize photonic crystal vertical cavity surface emitting laser cavities based on surface modes (PCSM-VCSEL) and to enhance their quality factor. Different from the early reported direct periodical modulation to the cavity surface, a periodical perturbation under the surface can also result in the vertical emission due to the beaming effect. It is more important that this perturbation causes less energy diffraction loss or light output because the perturbation is imposed on not the center but the tail of the field of surface modes. Therefore, this modulation method greatly improves the quality factor of such PCSM-VCSEL cavities, which is favorable to their realization in practice. The numerical results demonstrate their characteristics and good performances in the application as light sources.