In this work we have demonstrated the fabrication of two different classes of devices which demonstrate the integration of simple MEMS structures with photonics structures. In the first class of device a suspended, movable Si waveguide was designed and fabricated. This waveguide was designed to be able to be actuated so that it could be brought into close proximity to a ring resonator or similar structure. In the course of this work we also designed a technique to improve the input coupling to the waveguide. While these structures were successfully fabricated, post fabrication and testing involved a significant amount of manipulation of the devices and due to their relatively flimsy nature our structures could not readily survive this extra handling. As a result we redesigned our devices so that instead of moving the waveguides themselves we moved a much smaller optical element into close proximity to the waveguides. Using this approach it was also possible to fabricate a much larger array of actively switched photonic devices: switches, ring resonators, couplers (which act as switches or splitters) and attenuators. We successfully fabricated all these structures and were able to successfully demonstrate splitters, switches and attenuators. The quality of the SiN waveguides fabricated in this work were found to be qualitatively compatible to those made using semiconductor materials.
A review is given on the recent progress in three-dimensional (3D) all-metallic photonic-crystals in the near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. Results of optical spectroscopy of the sample will be described. Unique light emission characteristics at a narrow band from the photonic-crystal will also be presented. This new class of 3D all-metallic photonic-crystal is promising for thermal photo-voltaic power generation and for lighting application.
Three-dimensional photonic-crystal emitter for thermal photovoltaic power generation was studied. The photonic crystal, at 1535 K, exhibited a sharp emission at λ∼1.5 μm and was promising for thermal photovoltaic (TPV) generation. It was shown that an optical-to-electric conversion efficiency of ∼34% and electrical power of ∼14 W/cm2 is possible.
Thermophotovoltaics (TPV) converts the radiant energy of a thermal source into electrical energy using photovoltaic cells. TPV has a number of attractive features, including: fuel versatility (nuclear, fossil, solar, etc.), quiet operation, low maintenance, low emissions, light weight, high power density, modularity, and possibility for cogeneration of heat and electricity. Some of these features are highly attractive for military applications (Navy and Army). TPV could also be used for distributed power and automotive applications wherever fuel cells, microturbines, or cogeneration are presently being considered if the efficiencies could be raised to around 30%. This proposal primarily examine approaches to improving the radiative efficiency. The ideal irradiance for the PV cell is monochromatic illumination at the bandgap. The photonic crystal approach allows for the tailoring of thermal emission spectral bandwidth at specific wavelengths of interest. The experimental realization of metallic photonic crystal structures, the optical transmission, reflection and absorption characterization of it have all been carried out in detail and will be presented next. Additionally, comprehensive models of TPV conversion has been developed and applied to the metallic photonic crystal system.
Photonic crystals are of interest for GHz transmission applications, including rapid switching, GHz filters, and phased-array technology. 3D fabrication by Robocasting enables moldless printing of high solid loading slurries into structures such as the ''woodpile'' structures used to fabricate dielectric photonic band gap crystals. In this work, tunable dielectric materials were developed and printed into woodpile structures via solid freeform fabrication (SFF) toward demonstration of tunable photonic crystals. Barium strontium titanate ceramics possess interesting electrical properties including high permittivity, low loss, and high tunability. This paper discusses the processing route and dielectric characterization of (BaxSr1-XTiO3):MgO ceramic composites, toward fabrication of tunable dielectric photonic band gap crystals.
This report outlines our work on the integration of high efficiency photonic lattice structures with MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems). The simplest of these structures were based on 1-D mirror structures. These were integrated into a variety of devices, movable mirrors, switchable cavities and finally into Bragg fiber structures which enable the control of light in at least 2 dimensions. Of these devices, the most complex were the Bragg fibers. Bragg fibers consist of hollow tubes in which light is guided in a low index media (air) and confined by surrounding Bragg mirror stacks. In this work, structures with internal diameters from 5 to 30 microns have been fabricated and much larger structures should also be possible. We have demonstrated the fabrication of these structures with short wavelength band edges ranging from 400 to 1600nm. There may be potential applications for such structures in the fields of integrated optics and BioMEMS. We have also looked at the possibility of waveguiding in 3 dimensions by integrating defects into 3-dimensional photonic lattice structures. Eventually it may be possible to tune such structures by mechanically modulating the defects.
Photonic crystals are periodically engineered ''materials'' which are the photonic analogues of electronic crystals. Much like electronic crystal, photonic crystal materials can have a variety of crystal symmetries, such as simple-cubic, closed-packed, Wurtzite and diamond-like crystals. These structures were first proposed in late 1980's. However, due mainly to fabrication difficulties, working photonic crystals in the near-infrared and visible wavelengths are only just emerging. In this article, we review the construction of two- and three-dimensional photonic crystals of different symmetries at infrared and optical wavelengths using advanced semiconductor processing. We further demonstrate that this process lends itself to the creation of line defects (linear waveguides) and point defects (micro-cavities), which are the most basic building blocks for optical signal processing, filtering and routing.
We have used selective AlGaAs oxidation, dry-etching, and high-gain semiconductor laser simulation to create new in-plane lasers with interconnecting passive waveguides for use in high-density photonic circuits and future integration of photonics with electronics. Selective oxidation and doping of semiconductor heterostructures have made vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) into the world's most efficient low-power lasers. We apply oxidation technology to improve edge-emitting lasers and photonic-crystal waveguides, making them suitable for monolithic integrated microsystems. Two types of lasers are investigated: (1) a ridge laser with resonant coupling to an output waveguide; (2) a selectively-oxidized laser with a low active volume and potentially sub-milliAmp threshold current. Emphasis is on development of high-performance lasers suited for monolithic integration with photonic circuit elements.
Highly efficient transmission of 1.5 {micro}m light in a two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal slab waveguide is experimentally demonstrated. The light wave is shown to be guided along a triple-line defect formed within a 2D crystal and vertically by a strong index-guiding mechanism. At certain wavelength ranges, a complete transmission is observed, suggesting a lossless guiding along this photonic 1D conduction channel.
Resonance Tunneling Diodes (RTDs) are devices that can demonstrate very high-speed operation. Typically they have been fabricated using epitaxial techniques and materials not consistent with standard commercial integrated circuits. The authors report here the first demonstration of SiO{sub 2}-Si-SiO{sub 2} RTDs. These new structures were fabricated using novel combinations of silicon integrated circuit processes.
A two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal is an attractive alternative and complimentary to its 3D counterpart, due to fabrication simplicity. A 2D crystal, however, confines light only in the 2D plane, but not in the third direction, the z-direction. Earlier experiments show that such a 2D system can exist, providing that the boundary effect in z-direction is negligible and that light is collimated in the 2D plane. Nonetheless, the usefulness of such 2D crystals is limited because they are incapable of guiding light in z-direction, which leads to diffraction loss. This drawback presents a major obstacle for realizing low-loss 2D crystal waveguides, bends and thresholdless lasers. A recent theoretical calculation, though, suggests a novel way to eliminate such a loss with a 2D photonic crystal slab. The concept of a lightcone is introduced as a criterion for fully guiding and controlling light. Although the leaky modes of a crystal slab have been studied, there have until now no experimental reports on probing its guided modes and band gaps. In this paper, a waveguide-coupled 2D photonic crystal slab is successfully fabricated from a GaAs/Al{sub x}O{sub y} material system and its intrinsic transmission properties are studied. The crystal slab is shown to have a strong 2D band gap at {lambda} {approximately} 1.5 {micro}m. Light attenuates as much as {approximately}5dB per period in the gap, the strongest ever reported for any 2D photonic crystal in optical {lambda}. More importantly, for the first time, the crystal slab is shown to be capable of controlling light fully in all three-dimensions. The lightcone criterion is also experimentally confirmed.
An overview is given on the current status of three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals. The realization of new 3d photonic crystal structures, the creation of high Q microcavities and the building of waveguide bends are presented. These devices form the basic building blocks for applications in signal processing and low threshold lasers.
A new two-dimensional photonic crystal (2D PC) slab structure was created with a full three-dimensional light confinement. Guided modes with broad bandwidth and high transmission within the band gap are also observed. As an optical analog to electronic crystals, PC promises a revolution in the photonic world similar to the electronic revolution created by the electronic band gap engineering in semiconductor. 2D PC has an advantage of being easier to fabricate at optical wavelength ({lambda}) comparing with 3D PC. However, the light leakage in the vertical direction has been the main problem for using 2D PC in opto-electronic application. In this study, the authors solve this problem by combining traditional 2D PC with strong vertical index guiding between the waveguide layer (GaAs) and the cladding layer (Al{sub x}O{sub y}). A set of triangular lattice holes 2D PC's were fabricated with lattice constant a=460nm, hole diameter (d=0.6a) and waveguide layer thickness (t = 0.5a). Those parameters were chosen to maximize the TE photonic band gap (PBG) around {lambda} = 1.55{micro}m. The depth of etched holes is {approximately}0.6{micro}m and the 2{micro}m thick Al{sub x}O{sub y} cladding layer is obtained by thermal oxidation of Al{sub 0.9}Ga{sub 0.1}As. PC waveguides were also created by introducing line defects along {Gamma}K direction. The authors perform transmission measurement by coupling light to PC with 3{micro}m wide waveguides which extends {approximately}0.6mm on both sides of PC. An aspheric lens with NA = 0.4 is used to focus the collimated light from tunable diode laser into the input waveguide. Another identical lens is used to collect the transmitted light and focus to an infrared (IR) camera and a calibrated photo-detector with a beamsplitter. The Gaussian waveguide mode indicates that the signal detected by the photodetector comes only from the light interacting with PC and propagating along the waveguide. The absolute transmittance is obtained by normalizing the transmission with a reference measured with a nominally identical waveguide without PC.
This LDRD project explored the fundamental physics of a new class of photonic materials, photonic bandgap structures (PBG), and examine its unique properties for the design and implementation of photonic devices on a nano-meter length scale for the control and confinement of light. The low loss, highly reflective and quantum interference nature of a PBG material makes it one of the most promising candidates for realizing an extremely high-Q resonant cavity, >10,000, for optoelectronic applications and for the exploration of novel photonic physics, such as photonic localization, tunneling and modification of spontaneous emission rate. Moreover, the photonic bandgap concept affords us with a new opportunity to design and tailor photonic properties in very much the same way we manipulate, or bandgap engineer, electronic properties through modern epitaxy.
Localization of light to less than a cubic wavelength, {lambda}{sup 3}, has important quantum consequences. The creation of single mode cavities and the modification of spontaneous emission are two important examples. A defect formed inside a three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystal provides an unique optical environment for light localization. Single mode defect cavities were built, for the first time, from an infrared 3D photonic crystal. A cavity state with modal volume of less than one {lambda}{sup 3} was observed.
The search for a photonic crystal to confine optical waves in all three dimensions (3D) has proven to be a formidable task. It evolves from an early theoretical suggestion [1,2], a brief skepticism [3-5] and triumph in developing the mm-wave [6-8] and infrared 3D photonic crystals [9]. Yet, the challenge remains, as the ultimate goal for optoelectronic applications is to realize a 3D crystal at X=1.5 pm communication wavelengths. Operating at visible and near infrared wavelengths, X=1-2 pm, a photonic crystal may enhance the spontaneous emission rate [1, 10] and give rise to a semiconductor lasers with a zero lasing threshold[11, 12]. Another important application is optically switching, routing and interconnecting light [13,14] with an ultrafast transmission speed of terabits per second. A photonic crystal may also serve as a platform for integrating an all-optical circuitry with multiple photonic components, such as waveguides and switches, built on one chip [15]. In this Letter, we report on the successful fabrication of a working 3D crystal operating at optical L The minimum feature size of the 3D structure is 180 nanometers. The 3D crystal is free from defects over the entire 6-inch silicon wafer and has an absolute photonic band gap centered at A.-1.6 pm. Our data provides the first conclusive evidence for the existence of a full 3D photonic band gap in optical A. This development will pave the way to tinier, cheaper, more effective waveguides, optical switches and lasers.
In this work, we report the realization of a series of silicon 3D photonic crystals operating in the infrared (IR), mid-IR and most importantly the near-IR (k= 1 -2pm) wavelengths. The structure maintains its crystal symmetry throughout the entire 6-inches wafer and holds a complete photonic bandgap.
The routing and interconnection of optical signals through narrow channels and around sharp corners is important for large-scale all-optical circuit applications. A recent computational result suggests that photonic crystals may offer a novel way of achieving this goal by providing a mechanism for guiding light that is fundamentally different from traditional index guiding. Waveguiding in a photonic crystal, and near 100% transmission of electromagnetic waves around sharp 90o corners were observed experimentally. Bend- ing radii were made smaller than one wavelength.
We have realized a new class of high-Q resonant cavity using two-dimensional photonic bandgap (PBG) structures and showed that its Q-value can be as high as approximately 23,000 in the mm-wave regime. We further show that its modal properties, such as the resonant frequency, modal linewidth and number of modes, can be tuned by varying the cavity size. In addition, we present a new nano-fabrication technique for constructing PBG resonant cavities in the near infrared and visible spectral regime.