A photonic crystal is a periodic dielectric structure capable of manipulating light flow. Photonic crystals exhibit "photonic bandgaps" which prevent light propagation in certain directions with specified energies. We are interested in 2D photonic crystals where the dielectric is periodically patterned in two directions and is uniform in the third.

Materials Approach

      Painter,etal,Science,vol.284,1999          Our work will utilize a low index,
                                                                    thermally conductive sapphire substrate
                                                                    to improve CW performance.

Simulation Tools

In order to fully understand the working of this complex device, extensive 3D Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) analysis were performed. FDTD is a fully explicit second-order accurate solution to Maxwell's equations. The direct solution of Maxwell's equations gives a robust and accurate solution to the electromagnetic problem under consideration. This analysis helps us design the photonic defect cavity, the frequency of oscillation of the defect modes and the corresponding Q factors of the cavity modes.

             2D slice showing the Electric field profile through the center of the slab.

            E-Beam Lithography and Pattern Transfer

  After Lithography                       After RIE etch

A  presentation

Photonic Crystals are powerful devices for manipulating light at the sub-wavelength scale. We are interested in optical cavities where light can be pinned to a local defect in the Photonic Crystal lattice.

To understand the behavior of this complex device extensive three dimensional numerical simulations are undertaken. The above picture shows a 2D cross-section of a dipole mode in a Photonic Crystal slab.

  List of related publications

This page contains a list of publications related to the project. 

  Group Members participating in research

1. Thiruvikraman Sadagopan

2. Zhijian Wei

 Recent results !!!