An official website of the United States government
Photonic crystals with split ring unit cells for subwavelength light confinement
Here we report a photonic crystal with a split ring unit cell shape that demonstrates an order of magnitude larger peak electric field energy density compared with that of a traditional photonic crystal. Split ring photonic crystals possess several subwavelength tuning parameters, including split ring rotation angle and split width, which can be leveraged to modify light confinement for specific applications. Modifying the split ring’s parameters allows for tuning of the peak electric field energy density in the split by over one order of magnitude and tuning of the air band edge wavelength by nearly 10 nm in the near infrared region. Designed to have highly focused optical energy in an accessible subwavelength gap, the split ring photonic crystal is well suited for applications including optical biosensing, optical trapping, and enhanced emission from a quantum dot or other nanoscale emitter that could be incorporated in the split.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1809937
- PAR ID:
- 10389695
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Optics Letters
- Volume:
- 47
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0146-9592
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 661
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
We demonstrate higher sensitivity detection of proteins in a photonic crystal platform by including a deep subwavelength feature in the unit cell that locally increases the energy density of light. Through both simulations and experiments, the sensing capability of a deep subwavelength-engineered silicon antislot photonic crystal nanobeam (PhCNB) cavity is compared to that of a traditional PhCNB cavity. The redistribution and local enhancement of the energy density by the 50 nm antislot enables stronger light-molecule interaction at the surface of the antislot and leads to a larger resonance shift upon protein binding. This surface-based energy enhancement is confirmed by experiments demonstrating a nearly 50% larger resonance shift upon attachment of streptavidin molecules to biotin-functionalized antislot PhCNB cavities.more » « less
-
Transport of elementary excitations is a fundamental property of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, essential for wide-ranging phenomena and device applications. Although exciton transport reported in 2D materials barely exceeds 1 to 2 micrometers, coherent coupling of excitons with photons to form polaritons enables extended transport lengths and offers opportunities to use photonic mode engineering for tailored transport. Conventional vertical cavity or waveguide polaritons, however, are challenging to tune and integrate into photonic circuits. We report the transport of transition metal dichalcogenide polaritons in 2D photonic crystals that are highly versatile for tuning, mode engineering, and integration. We achieve an order-of-magnitude enhancement in transport length compared to bare excitons and reveal transport dependence on polariton dispersion and population dynamics, which are controlled via photonic crystal design and pump intensity. Stimulated relaxation observed in the system suggests the potential for forming superfluid polaritons with frictionless transport. These findings establish 2D photonic crystal polaritons as a versatile platform for advancing photonic energy transport technologies.more » « less
-
Abstract Multi-element layered materials enable the use of stoichiometric variation to engineer their optical responses at subwavelength scale. In this regard, naturally occurring van der Waals minerals allow us to harness a wide range of chemical compositions, crystal structures and lattice symmetries for layered materials under atomically thin limit. Recently, one type of naturally occurring sulfide mineral, ternary teallite has attained significant interest in the context of thermoelectric, optoelectronic, and photovoltaic applications, but understanding of light-matter interactions in such ternary teallite crystals is scarcely available. Herein, polarization-dependent linear and nonlinear optical responses in mechanically exfoliated teallite crystals are investigated including anisotropic Raman modes, wavelength-dependent linear dichroism, optical band gap evolution, and anisotropic third-harmonic generation (THG). Furthermore, the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of teallite crystal is estimated using the thickness-dependent THG emission process. We anticipate that our findings will open the avenue to a better understanding of the tailored light-matter interactions in complex multi-element layered materials and their implications in optical sensors, frequency modulators, integrated photonic circuits, and other nonlinear signal processing applications.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Abstract We demonstrate an electrically-driven metal-dielectric photonic crystal emitter by fabricating a series of organic light emitting diode microcavities in a vertical stack. The states of the individual microcavities are shown to split into bands of hybridized photonic energy states through interaction with adjacent cavities. The propagating photonic modes within the crystal depend sensitively on the unit cell geometry and the optical properties of the component materials. By systematically varying the metallic layer thicknesses, we show control over the density of states and band center. The emergence of a tunable photonic band gap due to an asymmetry-introduced Peierls distortion is demonstrated and correlated to the unit cell configuration. This work develops a class of one dimensional, planar, photonic crystal emitter architectures enabling either narrow linewidth, multi-mode, or broadband emission with a high degree of tunability.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.446489
