Optomechanical and photothermal interactions in suspended photonic crystal membranes.

We present here an optomechanical system fabricated with novel stress management techniques that allow us to suspend an ultrathin defect-free silicon photonic-crystal membrane above a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrate with a gap that is tunable to below 200 nm. Our devices are able to generate strong attractive and repulsive optical forces over a large surface area with simple in- and out- coupling and feature the strongest repulsive optomechanical coupling in any geometry to date (gOM/2π ≈65 GHz/nm). The interplay between the optomechanical and photo-thermal-mechanical dynamics is explored, and the latter is used to achieve cooling and amplification of the mechanical mode, demonstrating that our platform is well-suited for potential applications in low-power mass, force, and refractive-index sensing as well as optomechanical accelerometry.

All optical reconfiguration of optomechanical filters.

Reconfigurable optical filters are of great importance for applications in optical communication and information processing. Of particular interest are tuning techniques that take advantage of mechanical deformation of the devices, as they offer wider tuning range. Here we demonstrate reconfiguration of coupled photonic crystal nanobeam cavities by using optical gradient force induced mechanical actuation. Propagating waveguide modes that exist over a wide wavelength range are used to actuate the structures and control the resonance of localized cavity modes. Using this all-optical approach, more than 18 linewidths of tuning range is demonstrated. Using an on-chip temperature self-referencing method, we determine that 20% of the total tuning was due to optomechanical reconfiguration and the rest due to thermo-optic effects. By operating the device at frequencies higher than the thermal cutoff, we show high-speed operation dominated by just optomechanical effects. Independent control of mechanical and optical resonances of our structures is also demonstrated.

Study of thermally-induced optical bistability and the role of surface treatments in Si-based mid-infrared photonic crystal cavities.

We report the observation of optical bistability in Si-based photonic crystal cavities operating around 4.5 µm. Time domain measurements indicate that the source of this optical bistability is thermal, with a time constant on the order of 5 µs. Quality (Q) factor improvement is shown by the use of surface treatments (wet processes and annealing), resulting in a significant increase in Q-factor, which in our best devices is on the order of ~45,000 at 4.48 µm. After annealing in a N(2) environment, optical bistability is no longer seen in our cavities.

High-Q/V air-mode photonic crystal cavities at microwave frequencies.

We present results for a photonic microwave resonator designed and fabricated at 17.4 GHz with a record high Quality factor (Q=26,400) at room temperature over a mode volume smaller than one cubic wavelength. The cavity is uniquely designed to have its electric field concentrated in air, which allows for efficient coupling to free space and facilitates interactions with gaseous atomic systems and fluids.

Plasmonic resonators for enhanced diamond NV-center single photon sources.

We propose a novel source of non-classical light consisting of plasmonic aperture with single-crystal diamond containing a single Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) color center. Theoretical calculations of optimal structures show that these devices can simultaneously enhance optical pumping by a factor of 7, spontaneous emission rates by Fp~50 (Purcell factor), and offer collection efficiencies up to 40%. These excitation and collection enhancements occur over a broad range of wavelengths (~30 nm), and are independently tunable with device geometry, across the excitation (~530 nm) and emission (~600-800 nm) spectrum of the NV center. Implementing this system with top-down techniques in bulk diamond crystals will provide a scalable architecture for a myriad of diamond NV center applications.

Mid-infrared photonic crystal cavities in silicon.

We demonstrate the design, fabrication, and characterization of silicon photonic crystal cavities realized in a silicon on insulator (SOI) platform, operating at a wavelength of 4.4 µm with a quality factor of 13,600. Cavity modes are imaged using the technique of scanning resonant scattering microscopy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of photonic devices fabricated in SOI and operating in the 4-5 µm wavelength range.

Experimental observation of subwavelength localization using metamaterial-based cavities.

We report subwavelength localization of electromagnetic fields within cavities based on metamaterials. Cavity resonances are observed in the transmission spectrum of a split-ring resonator and composite metamaterials cavity structures. These cavity resonances are shown to exhibit high-quality factors. Since the unit cells of metamaterials are much smaller than the operation wavelength, subwavelength localization is possible within these metamaterial cavity structures. In the present Letter, we show that the electromagnetic field is localized into a region of lambda/8, where lambda is the cavity resonance wavelength.

Experimental observation of cavity formation in composite metamaterials.

In this paper, we investigated one of the promising applications of left-handed metamaterials: composite metamaterial based cavities. Four different cavity structures operating in the microwave regime were constructed, and we observed cavity modes on the transmission spectrum with different quality factors. The effective permittivity and permeability of the CMM structure and cavity structure were calculated by use of a retrieval procedure. Subsequently, in taking full advantage of the effective medium theory, we modeled CMM based cavities as one dimensional Fabry-Perot resonators with a subwavelength cavity at the center. We calculated the transmission from the Fabry-Perot resonator model using the one-dimensional transfer matrix method, which is in good agreement with the measured result. Finally, we investigated the Fabry-Perot resonance phase condition for a CMM based cavity, in which the condition was satisfied at the cavity frequency. Therefore, our results show that it is possible to treat metamaterial based cavities as one-dimensional Fabry-Perot resonators with a subwavelength cavity.

Study of the field emitted by a source placed inside a two-dimensional left-handed metamaterial.

We studied the properties of electromagnetic waves that were emitted from a source placed inside a left-handed medium based on a two-dimensional labyrinth. While the arguments of geometrical optics suggest that the field emitted from the source would be focused outside the left-handed medium no matter where the source was placed, our results proved the contrary. We found that the field emitted from the source was focused outside the left-handed medium when the source was placed inside the medium at a certain distance away from the interface. Moreover, our results showed that the field emitted from the source was focused on the subwavelength dimensions outside the left-handed medium.

Experimental demonstration of subwavelength focusing of electromagnetic waves by labyrinth-based two-dimensional metamaterials.

We studied focusing in a two-dimensional metamaterial that was based on a labyrinth structure. We theoretically showed that the labyrinth-based metamaterial exhibits negative indices of refraction between 6 and 6.4 GHz. We experimentally studied the focusing effect by measuring electric field intensities on the output side of the metamaterial when the source was placed in front of the input side of the metamaterial. Our experimental results showed that it is in fact possible to focus the source field with half-widths as small as wavelength/4 by using the labyrinth-based metamaterial.

Beaming of light and enhanced transmission via surface modes of photonic crystals.

We report beaming and enhanced transmission of electromagnetic waves by use of surface corrugated photonic crystals. The modes of a finite-size photonic crystal composed of dielectric rods in free space have been analyzed by the plane-wave expansion method. We show the existence of surface propagating modes when the surface of the finite-size photonic crystal is corrugated. We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that the transmission through photonic crystal waveguides can be substantially increased by the existence of surface propagating modes at the input surface. In addition, the power emitted from the photonic crystal waveguide is confined to a narrow angular region when an appropriate surface corrugation is added to the output surface of the photonic crystal.

Extraordinary grating-coupled microwave transmission through a subwavelength annular aperture.

We studied coupling phenomena between surface plasmons and electromagnetic waves in the microwave spectrum using circular apertures surrounded by array of grooves.We first present experimental and theoretical results of enhanced microwave transmission though a subwavelength circular aperture with concentric periodic grooves around the surface plasmon resonance frequency. This is followed by transmission studies through circular annular apertures and circular annular apertures surrounded by concentric periodic grooves. We demonstrated that 145 fold enhancement factor could be obtained with a subwavelength circular annular aperture surrounded by concentric periodic grooves. Our results show that, high transmission from a circular annular aperture with grooves is assisted by the guided mode of the coaxial waveguide and coupling to the surface plasmons.

Highly directional enhanced radiation from sources embedded inside three-dimensional photonic crystals.

We have experimentally studied emission of microwave radiation from a monopole source embedded in a three-dimensional photonic crystal. We have demonstrated enhancement of microwave radiation at the band edge and cavity mode frequencies. Furthermore, we have shown that it is possible to obtain highly directive microwave radiation sources operating at the band edge of the three-dimensional photonic crystal. We have measured half power beam widths of 13 degrees for both E and H planes, corresponding to a maximum directivity of 245.

Focusing of electromagnetic waves by a left-handed metamaterial flat lens.

We present here the experimental results from research conducted on negative refraction and focusing by a two-dimensional (2D) left-handed metamaterial (LHM) slab. By measuring the refracted electromagnetic (EM) waves from a LHM slab, we find an effective refractive index of -1.86. A 2D scanning transmission measurement technique is used to measure the intensity distribution of the EM waves that radiate from the point source. The flat lens behavior of a 2D LHM slab is demonstrated for two different point source distances of d(s) = 0.5lambda and lambda. The full widths at half maximum of the focused beams are 0.36lambda and 0.4lambda, respectively, which are both below the diffraction limit.

Experimental demonstration of labyrinth-based left-handed metamaterials.

In this present work, we propose and demonstrate a resonant structure that solves two major problems related to the split-ring resonator structure. One of the problems related to the split-ring resonator structure is the bianisotropy, and the other problem is the electric coupling to the magnetic resonance of the split-ring resonator structure. These two problems introduce difficulties in obtaining isotropic left-handed metamaterial mediums. The resonant structure that we propose here solves both of these problems. We further show that in addition to the magnetic resonance, when combined with a suitable wire medium, the structure that we propose exhibits left-handed transmission band. We believe that the structure we proposed may have important consequences in the design of isotropic negative index metamaterial mediums.