38 research outputs found
Broadband Reconfiguration of OptoMechanical Filters
We demonstrate broad-band reconfiguration of coupled photonic crystal
nanobeam cavities by using optical gradient force induced mechanical actuation.
Propagating waveguide modes that exist over wide wavelength range are used to
actuate the structures and in that way control the resonance of localized
cavity mode. Using this all-optical approach, more than 18 linewidths of tuning
range is demonstrated. Using on-chip temperature self-referencing method that
we developed, we determined that 20 % of the total tuning was due to
optomechanical reconfiguration and the rest due to thermo-optic effects.
Independent control of mechanical and optical resonances of our structures, by
means of optical stiffening, is also demonstrated
Terahertz All-Optical Modulation in a Silicon-Polymer Hybrid System
Although Gigahertz-scale free-carrier modulators have been previously
demonstrated in silicon, intensity modulators operating at Terahertz speeds
have not been reported because of silicon's weak ultrafast optical
nonlinearity. We have demonstrated intensity modulation of light with light in
a silicon-polymer integrated waveguide device, based on the all-optical Kerr
effect - the same ultrafast effect used in four-wave mixing. Direct
measurements of time-domain intensity modulation are made at speeds of 10 GHz.
We showed experimentally that the ultrafast mechanism of this modulation
functions at the optical frequency through spectral measurements, and that
intensity modulation at frequencies in excess of 1 THz can be obtained in this
device. By integrating optical polymers through evanescent coupling to
high-mode-confinement silicon waveguides, we greatly increase the effective
nonlinearity of the waveguide for cross-phase modulation. The combination of
high mode confinement, multiple integrated optical components, and high
nonlinearities produces all-optical ultrafast devices operating at
continuous-wave power levels compatible with telecommunication systems.
Although far from commercial radio frequency optical modulator standards in
terms of extinction, these devices are a first step in development of
large-scale integrated ultrafast optical logic in silicon, and are two orders
of magnitude faster than previously reported silicon devices.Comment: Under consideration at Nature Material
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