Large-scale synthesis of a silicon photonic crystal with a complete three-dimensional bandgap near 1.5 micrometres

Photonic technology, using light instead of electrons as the information carrier, is increasingly replacing electronics in communication and information management systems. Microscopic light manipulation, for this purpose, is achievable through photonic bandgap materials, a special class of photonic crystals in which three-dimensional, periodic dielectric constant variations controllably prohibit electromagnetic propagation throughout a specified frequency band. This can result in the localization of photons, thus providing a mechanism for controlling and inhibiting spontaneous light emission that can be exploited for photonic device fabrication. In fact, carefully engineered line defects could act as waveguides connecting photonic devices in all-optical microchips, and infiltration of the photonic material with suitable liquid crystals might produce photonic bandgap structures (and hence light-flow patterns) fully tunable by an externally applied voltage. However, the realization of this technology requires a strategy for the efficient synthesis of high-quality, large-scale photonic crystals with photonic bandgaps at micrometre and sub-micrometre wavelengths, and with rationally designed line and point defects for optical circuitry. Here we describe single crystals of silicon inverse opal with a complete three-dimensional photonic bandgap centred on 1.46 microm, produced by growing silicon inside the voids of an opal template of dose-packed silica spheres that are connected by small 'necks' formed during sintering, followed by removal of the silica template. The synthesis method is simple and inexpensive, yielding photonic crystals of pure silicon that are easily integrated with existing silicon-based microelectronics.     

All-metallic three-dimensional photonic crystals with a large infrared bandgap

Three-dimensional (3D) metallic crystals are promising photonic bandgap structures: they can possess a large bandgap, new electromagnetic phenomena can be explored, and high-temperature (above 1,000 degrees C) applications may be possible. However, investigation of their photonic bandgap properties is challenging, especially in the infrared and visible spectrum, as metals are dispersive and absorbing in these regions. Studies of metallic photonic crystals have therefore mainly concentrated on microwave and millimetre wavelengths. Difficulties in fabricating 3D metallic crystals present another challenge, although emerging techniques such as self-assembly may help to resolve these problems. Here we report measurements and simulations of a 3D tungsten crystal that has a large photonic bandgap at infrared wavelengths (from about 8 to 20 microm). A very strong attenuation exists in the bandgap, approximately 30 dB per unit cell at 12 microm. These structures also possess other interesting optical properties; a sharp absorption peak is present at the photonic band edge, and a surprisingly large transmission is observed in the allowed band, below 6 microm. We propose that these 3D metallic photonic crystals can be used to integrate various photonic transport phenomena, allowing applications in thermophotovoltaics and blackbody emission.     

On-chip natural assembly of silicon photonic bandgap crystals.

Photonic bandgap crystals can reflect light for any direction of propagation in specific wavelength ranges. This property, which can be used to confine, manipulate and guide photons, should allow the creation of all-optical integrated circuits. To achieve this goal, conventional semiconductor nanofabrication techniques have been adapted to make photonic crystals. A potentially simpler and cheaper approach for creating three-dimensional periodic structures is the natural assembly of colloidal microspheres. However, this approach yields irregular, polycrystalline photonic crystals that are difficult to incorporate into a device. More importantly, it leads to many structural defects that can destroy the photonic bandgap. Here we show that by assembling a thin layer of colloidal spheres on a silicon substrate, we can obtain planar, single-crystalline silicon photonic crystals that have defect densities sufficiently low that the bandgap survives. As expected from theory, we observe unity reflectance in two crystalline directions of our photonic crystals around a wavelength of 1.3 micrometres. We also show that additional fabrication steps, intentional doping and patterning, can be performed, so demonstrating the potential for specific device applications.     

含点缺陷的光子晶体波导传输特性的研究

运用FDTD算法研究了含点缺陷的光子晶体波导的传输特性。首先分析了该波导的传输谱,然后动态模拟了光与波导相互作用的过程。结果表明在光子晶体波导中引入点缺陷有利于对光的控制,从而对光子晶体波导器件的设计有着一定的理论指导作用。     

一维光子晶体带隙结构研究

光子晶体材料的介电常数在空间中呈周期分布，这种材料存在光子带隙，引入缺陷对光有局域效应，为更好地控制光和利用光提供了新的方法。文章利用传输矩阵法计算了一维光子晶体不同结构的带隙特征，计算表明光子带隙的宽度受到材料介电常数及介质层厚度的影响。随材料介电常数及介质层厚度的增加，光子带隙宽度存在一个极大值，对于确定材料构成的光子晶体，两介质等厚时带隙最宽。     

Complete photonic bandgaps in 12-fold symmetric quasicrystals

Photonic crystals are attracting current interest for a variety of reasons, such as their ability to inhibit the spontaneous emission of light. This and related properties arise from the formation of photonic bandgaps, whereby multiple scattering of photons by lattices of periodically varying refractive indices acts to prevent the propagation of electromagnetic waves having certain wavelengths. One route to forming photonic crystals is to etch two-dimensional periodic lattices of vertical air holes into dielectric slab waveguides. Such structures can show complete photonic bandgaps, but only for large-diameter air holes in materials of high refractive index (such as gallium arsenide, n = 3.69), which unfortunately leads to significantly reduced optical transmission when combined with optical fibres of low refractive index. It has been suggested that quasicrystalline (rather than periodic) lattices can also possess photonic bandgaps. Here we demonstrate this concept experimentally and show that it enables complete photonic bandgaps--non-directional and for any polarization--to be realized with small air holes in silicon nitride (n = 2.02), and even glass (n = 1.45). These properties make photonic quasicrystals promising for application in a range of optical devices.     

A three-dimensional optical photonic crystal with designed point defects

Photonic crystals offer unprecedented opportunities for miniaturization and integration of optical devices. They also exhibit a variety of new physical phenomena, including suppression or enhancement of spontaneous emission, low-threshold lasing, and quantum information processing. Various techniques for the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals--such as silicon micromachining, wafer fusion bonding, holographic lithography, self-assembly, angled-etching, micromanipulation, glancing-angle deposition and auto-cloning--have been proposed and demonstrated with different levels of success. However, a critical step towards the fabrication of functional 3D devices, that is, the incorporation of microcavities or waveguides in a controllable way, has not been achieved at optical wavelengths. Here we present the fabrication of 3D photonic crystals that are particularly suited for optical device integration using a lithographic layer-by-layer approach. Point-defect microcavities are introduced during the fabrication process and optical measurements show they have resonant signatures around telecommunications wavelengths (1.3-1.5 microm). Measurements of reflectance and transmittance at near-infrared are in good agreement with numerical simulations.     

Low-loss hollow-core silica/air photonic bandgap fibre

Photonic bandgap structures use the principle of interference to reflect radiation. Reflection from photonic bandgap structures has been demonstrated in one, two and three dimensions and various applications have been proposed. Early work in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibre technology used a hexagonal structure surrounding the air core; this fibre was the first demonstration of light guided inside an air core of a photonic bandgap fibre. The potential benefits of guiding light in air derive from lower Rayleigh scattering, lower nonlinearity and lower transmission loss compared to conventional waveguides. In addition, these fibres offer a new platform for studying nonlinear optics in gases. Owing largely to challenges in fabrication, the early air-core fibres were only available in short lengths, and so systematic studies of loss were not possible. More recently, longer lengths of fibre have become available with reported losses of 1,000 dB km(-1). We report here the fabrication and characterization of long lengths of low attenuation photonic bandgap fibre. Attenuation of less than 30 dB km(-1) over a wide transmission window is observed with minimum loss of 13 dB km(-1) at 1,500 nm, measured on 100 m of fibre. Coupling between surface and core modes of the structure is identified as an important contributor to transmission loss in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibres.     

Controlling the dynamics of spontaneous emission from quantum dots by photonic crystals

Control of spontaneously emitted light lies at the heart of quantum optics. It is essential for diverse applications ranging from miniature lasers and light-emitting diodes, to single-photon sources for quantum information, and to solar energy harvesting. To explore such new quantum optics applications, a suitably tailored dielectric environment is required in which the vacuum fluctuations that control spontaneous emission can be manipulated. Photonic crystals provide such an environment: they strongly modify the vacuum fluctuations, causing the decay of emitted light to be accelerated or slowed down, to reveal unusual statistics, or to be completely inhibited in the ideal case of a photonic bandgap. Here we study spontaneous emission from semiconductor quantum dots embedded in inverse opal photonic crystals. We show that the spectral distribution and time-dependent decay of light emitted from excitons confined in the quantum dots are controlled by the host photonic crystal. Modified emission is observed over large frequency bandwidths of 10%, orders of magnitude larger than reported for resonant optical microcavities. Both inhibited and enhanced decay rates are observed depending on the optical emission frequency, and they are controlled by the crystals' lattice parameter. Our experimental results provide a basis for all-solid-state dynamic control of optical quantum systems.     

平面波展开法计算FCC反相密堆积结构光子晶体的完全禁带

本文的目的是研究FCC反相密堆积结构光子晶体在改变其结构的情况下完全禁带的变化。通过事先设定品格常数a和组成密堆积结构的空气球的半径R,利用平面波展开法计算得到当背景材料的相对介电常数分别为εr=3．6和εr=11．9时两种不同的完全禁带。在此基础之上,又对晶体结构做了一些改动,保持a和R不变,在相邻球体的空隙中再嵌入4个半径r=0．2R的空气小球,结果发现当εr=3．6时完全禁带消失了,而εr=11．9时则产生了新的完全禁带。     

分析TE模式入射角对光子晶体禁带特性的影响

利用光学传输矩阵方法,分析了TE模式光波的入射角度分别与禁带宽度、光子带隙起始波长的关系,通过优化计算得到了一系列特殊带隙结构的光子晶体,揭示了光子晶体的带隙变化规律,对不同禁带范围的要求选取恰当参数来制备所需要的光子晶体提供了理论依据。     

光子晶体的发展和应用

20世纪80年代末出现的光子晶体是一种具有光子带隙的新材料,它独特的性质使得光子晶体具有广泛的应用前景.该文介绍了三维光子晶体的制备技术,并综述了光子晶体的一些物理特性及在光学、微波方面的应用.     

基于磁光材料的磁可调石墨烯多带吸收特性

为了改善石墨烯的吸收性能,基于石墨烯的磁光效应,提出了一种采用磁性材料构成的光子晶体异质结构。该光学结构可使石墨烯实现多带吸收。吸收带的数目可通过改变光子晶体的周期数来调节。利用4×4传输矩阵法数值研究了该光子晶体异质结构的相关参数对石墨烯吸收率的影响。结果表明:石墨烯的吸收特性表现出一定的磁圆二色性。但通过调节费米能量,在外磁场的作用,左旋圆偏振光和右旋圆偏振光均可具有较高的吸收率。研究结果为偏振光学领域石墨烯基新型光子学器件的设计制作提供了理论依据。     

二维六边形晶格光子晶体的带隙研究

运用平面波展开法模拟计算了二维六边形晶格光子晶体的能带结构,得到了使光子带隙最大化的结构参数.分别以不同介质作为本底,由圆柱、正方直柱和六角形直柱空气孔构成的六边形晶格光子晶体都出现了完全光子带隙,为进一步光子晶体的实验制备和应用提供了理论依据.     

厚度递变结构一维光子晶体的缺陷模研究

光子晶体的许多应用与缺陷模相关,研究缺陷模可为光子器件的设计提供参考.利用传输矩阵法,研究了光波在包含掺杂缺陷的厚度渐变准周期结构一维光子晶体中的传播规律,分析了缺陷层的位置和光学厚度对缺陷模的影响.结果表明,在准周期结构光子晶体引入缺陷,光子晶体禁带中也产生了缺陷模;随着掺杂缺陷层位置和光学厚度的变化,缺陷模的位置和共振透射峰也随之变化.     

SiO2纳米粒子制备及自组装光学性能

运用溶胶一凝胶法制备了不同粒径单分散SiO2纳米微球,垂直沉积法制备了SiO2三维光子晶体薄膜．通过SEM研究了SiO2光子晶体的微观结构,探讨了薄膜内裂痕形成原因与克服办法．通过分光光度计测定了光子晶体的带隙位置,与理论计算相吻合．光子晶体带隙随着SiO2微球粒径增加带隙红移．     

Wavelength-scalable hollow optical fibres with large photonic bandgaps for CO2 laser transmission

Conventional solid-core optical fibres require highly transparent materials. Such materials have been difficult to identify owing to the fundamental limitations associated with the propagation of light through solids, such as absorption, scattering and nonlinear effects. Hollow optical fibres offer the potential to minimize the dependence of light transmission on fibre material transparency. Here we report on the design and drawing of a hollow optical fibre lined with an interior omnidirectional dielectric mirror. Confinement of light in the hollow core is provided by the large photonic bandgaps established by the multiple alternating submicrometre-thick layers of a high-refractive-index glass and a low-refractive-index polymer. The fundamental and high-order transmission windows are determined by the layer dimensions and can be scaled from 0.75 to 10.6 micro m in wavelength. Tens of metres of hollow photonic bandgap fibres for transmission of carbon dioxide laser light at 10.6 micro m wavelength were drawn. The transmission losses are found to be less than 1.0 dB m(-1), orders of magnitude lower than those of the intrinsic fibre material, thus demonstrating that low attenuation can be achieved through structural design rather than high-transparency material selection.     

超快速光子晶体全光开关研究

光子晶体作为一种新型的人造光子学材料,具有独特的光子带隙特性,能有效地控制光子的传输状态,因而是实现全光开关等集成光子器件的重要基础。介绍了基于光子晶体的全光开关的各种实现方法,并详细论述了超快速光子晶体全光开关的实验研究状况。     

基于聚苯乙烯模板的二维光子晶体的制备

给出了一种制备聚苯乙烯小球蛋白石结构光子晶体,并运用单层聚苯乙烯小球为模板制备了一系列二维光子晶体的方法,包括α-Fe_2O_3二维碗状光子晶体和ZnO柱二维光子晶体结构,并通过大面积反射谱测量了聚苯乙烯胶体光子晶体的光子带隙.聚苯乙烯小球模板法制备方法简单,成本低,重复性好,而且是大面积生长,为制备各种形貌的二维光子晶体提出了新思路.     

掺铁铌酸锂晶体中三维光子晶格的诱导及结构分析

笔者描述了一种使用振幅掩膜在自散焦光折变晶体掺铁铌酸锂中制作光诱导三维光子晶格的实验方法,并提供平面导波、布里渊区潜、远场衍射图样三种方式对晶格结构进行分析．此外,笔者对光强极弱的会聚光束在晶格中的传播行为进行研究并得到独特的衍射图样．这对二维微结构的制作与光在接中传播特性的研究是非常有意义的．