Photonic Crystals and Microdisks

Polarization of light is essential for some living organisms and many optical applications. Here, an orientation dependent polarization conversion effect is reported for light reflected from diamond‐structure‐based photonic crystals (D‐structure) inside the scales of a beetle, the weevil Entimus imperialis. When linearly polarized light propagates along its 〈100〉 directions, the D‐structure behaves analogous to a half‐wave plate in reflection but based on a different mechanism. The D‐structure rotates the polarization direction of linearly polarized light, and reflects circularly polarized light of both handednesses without changing it. This polarization effect is different from circular dichroism occurring in chiral biological photonic structures discovered before. The structural origin of this effect is symmetry breaking inside D‐structure's unit cell. This finding demonstrates that natural photonic structures can exploit multiple functionalities inherent to the design principles of their structural organization. Aiming at transferring the inherent polarization effect of the biological D‐structure to technically realizable materials, three simplified biomimetic structural models are derived and it is theoretically demonstrated that they retain the effect. Out of these structures, functioning woodpile structure prototypes are fabricated.

We present phase sensitive cavity field measurements on photonic crystal microcavities. The experiments have been performed as autocorrelation measurements with ps double pulse laser excitation for resonant and detuned conditions. Measured E-field autocorrelation functions reveal a very strong detuning dependence of the phase shift between laser and cavity field and of the autocorrelation amplitude of the cavity field. The fully resolved phase information allows for a precise frequency discrimination and hence for a precise measurement of the detuning between laser and cavity. The behavior of the autocorrelation amplitude and phase and their detuning dependence can be fully described by an analytic model. Furthermore, coherent control of the cavity field is demonstrated by tailored laser excitation with phase and amplitude controlled pulses. The experimental proof and verification of the above described phenomena became possible by an electric detection scheme, which employs planar photonic crystal microcavity photo diodes with metallic Schottky contacts in the defect region of the resonator. The applied photo current detection was shown to work also efficiently at room temperature, which make electrically contacted microcavities attractive for real world applications.

We successfully developed a process to fabricate freestanding cubic aluminium nitride (c-AlN) membranes containing cubic gallium nitride (c-GaN) quantum dots (QDs). The samples were grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). To realize the photonic crystal (PhC) membrane we have chosen a triangular array of holes. The array was fabricated by electron beam lithography and several steps of reactive ion etching (RIE) with the help of a hard mask and an undercut of the active layer. The r/a- ratio of 0.35 was deter- mined by numerical simulations to obtain a preferably wide photonic band gap. Micro-photoluminescence (μ-PL) measurements of the photonic crystals, in particular of a H1 and a L3 cavity, and the emission of the QD ensemble were performed to characterize the samples. The PhCs show high quality factors of 4400 for the H1 cavity and about 5000/3000 for two different modes of the L3 cavity, respectively. The energy of the fundamental modes is in good agreement to the numerical simulations.

Microresonators containing quantum dots find application in devices like single photon emitters for quantum information technology as well as low threshold laser devices. We demonstrate the fabrication of 60 nm thin zinc-blende AlN microdisks including cubic GaN quantum dots using dry chemical etching techniques. Scanning electron microscopy analysis reveals the morphology with smooth surfaces of the microdisks. Micro-photoluminescence measurements exhibit optically active quantum dots. Furthermore this is the first report of resonator modes in the emission spectrum of a cubic AlN microdisk.

Whispering gallery modes (WGMs) were observed in 60 nm thin cubic AlN microdisk resonators containing a single layer of non-polar cubic GaN quantum dots. Freestanding microdisks were patterned by means of electron beam lithography and a two step reactive ion etching process. Micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy investigations were performed for optical characterization. We analyzed the mode spacing for disk diameters ranging from 2-4 lm. Numerical investigations using three dimensional finite difference time domain calculations were in good agreement with the experimental data. Whispering gallery modes of the radial orders 1 and 2 were identified by means of simulated mode field distributions.

Using a finite-difference time-domain method, we theoretically investigate the optical spectra of crossing perpendicular photonic crystal waveguides with quantum dots embedded in the central rod. The waveguides are designed so that the light mainly propagates along one direction and the cross talk is greatly reduced in the transverse direction. It is shown that when a quantum dot (QD) is resonant with the cavity, strong coupling can be observed via both the transmission and crosstalk spectrum. If the cavity is far off-resonant from the QD, both the cavity mode and the QD signal can be detected in the transverse direction since the laser field is greatly suppressed in this direction. This structure could have strong implications for resonant excitation and in-plane detection of QD optical spectroscopy.

We numerically investigate the coupling between circular resonators and study strong light‐matter coupling of single as well as multiple circular resonators to quantum‐mechanical resonators in two dimensional model simulations. For all cases, the computed resonances of the coupled system as function of the detuning show anti‐crossings. The obtained mode splittings of coupled optical resonators are strongly depending on distance and cluster in almost degenerate eigenstates for large distances, as is known from coupled resonator optical waveguides. Vacuum Rabi splitting is observed for a quantum dot strongly coupled to eigenmodes of single perfectly cylindrical resonators.

We numerically investigate the interaction dynamics of coupled cavities in planar photonic crystal slabs in different configurations. The single cavity is optimized for a long lifetime of the fundamental mode, reaching a Q-factor of ≈43, 000 using the method of gentle confinement. For pairs of cavities we consider several configurations and present a setup with strongest coupling observable as a line splitting of about 30 nm. Based on this configuration, setups with three cavities are investigated.

Microdisks made from GaAs with embedded InAs quantum dots are immersed in the liquid crystal 4-cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl (5CB). The quantum dots serve as emitters feeding the optical modes of the photonic cavity. By changing temperature, the liquid crystal undergoes a phase transition from the isotropic to the nematic state, which can be used as an effective tuning mechanism of the photonic modes of the cavity. In the nematic state, the uniaxial electrical anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules can be exploited for orienting the material in an electric field, thus externally controlling the birefringence of the material. Using this effect, an electric field induced tuning of the modes is achieved. Numerical simulations using the finite-differences time-domain (FDTD) technique employing an anisotropic dielectric medium allow to understand the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules on the surface of the microdisk resonator.

We numerically investigate the behavior of Whispering Gallery Modes (WGMs) in circularly shaped resonators like microdisks, with diameters in the range of optical vacuum wavelengths. The microdisk is embedded in an uniaxial anisotropic dielectric environment. By changing the optical anisotropy, one obtains spectral tunability of the optical modes. The degree of tunability strongly depends on the radial (azimuthal) mode order M (N). As the modes approach each other spectrally, anticrossing is observed, leading to a rearrangement of the optical states.

GaAs-based semiconductor microdisks with high quality whispering gallery modes (Q44000) have been fabricated.A layer of self-organized InAs quantumdots (QDs) served as a light source to feed the optical modes at room temperature. In order to achieve frequency tuning of the optical modes, the microdisk devices have been immersed in 4 – cyano – 4´-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), a liquid crystal(LC) with a nematic phase below the clearing temperature of TC≈34°C .We have studied the device performance in the temperature rangeof T=20-50°C, in order to investigate the influence of the nematic–isotropic phase transition on the optical modes. Moreover,we havea pplied an AC electric field to the device,which leads in the nematic phase to a reorientation of the anisotropic dielectric tensor of the liquid crystal.This electrical anisotropy can be used to achieve electrical tunability of the optical modes.Using the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) technique with an anisotropic material model, we are able to describe the influence of the liquid crystal qualitatively.

The electromagnetic field of a high-quality photonic crystal nanocavity is computed using the finite difference time domain method. It is shown that a separatrix occurs in the local energy flux discriminating between predominantly near and far field components. Placing a two-level atom into the cavity leads to characteristic field modifications and normalmode splitting in the transmission spectra.