Photonic Band Gap Structures as a Gateway to Nano-Photonics

摘要

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.