Aseema Mohanty

Silicon-Chip Mid-Infrared Frequency Comb Generation

We report the first on-chip integrated mid-infrared frequency comb using a silicon optical parametric oscillator ring resonator. We demonstrate a 750-nm-wide comb centered at 2.6 um.

Singlet Exciton Fission in Nanostructured Organic Solar Cells

Singlet exciton fission is an efficient multiexciton generation process in organic molecules. But two concerns must be satisfied before it can be exploited in low-cost solution-processed organic solar cells. Fission must be combined with longer wavelength absorption in a structure that can potentially surpass the single junction limit, and its efficiency must be demonstrated in nanoscale domains within blended devices. Here, we report organic solar cells comprised of tetracene, copper phthalocyanine, and the buckyball C(60). Short wavelength light generates singlet excitons in tetracene. These are subsequently split into two triplet excitons and transported through the phthalocyanine. In addition, the phthalocyanine absorbs photons below the singlet exciton energy of tetracene. To test tetracene in nanostructured blends, we fabricate coevaporated bulk heterojunctions and multilayer heterojunctions of tetracene and C(60). We measure a singlet fission efficiency of (71 ± 18)%, demonstrating that exciton fission can efficiently compete with exciton dissociation on the nanoscale.

Triplet Exciton Dissociation in Singlet Exciton Fission Photovoltaics

Triplet exciton dissociation in singlet exciton fission devices with three classes of acceptors are characterized: fullerenes, perylene diimides, and PbS and PbSe colloidal nanocrystals. Using photocurrent spectroscopy and a magnetic field probe it is found that colloidal PbSe nanocrystals are the most promising acceptors, capable of efficient triplet exciton dissociation and long wavelength absorption.

Coherent mid-infrared frequency combs in silicon-microresonators in the presence of Raman effects

We demonstrate the first low-noise mid-IR frequency comb source using a silicon microresonator. Our observation of strong Raman scattering lines in the generated comb suggests that interplay between Raman and four-wave mixing plays a role in the generated low-noise state. In addition, we characterize, the intracavity comb generation dynamics using an integrated PIN diode, which takes advantage of the inherent three-photon absorption process in silicon.

Quantum Interference between Transverse Spatial Waveguide Modes

Integrated quantum optics has the potential to markedly reduce the footprint and resource requirements of quantum information processing systems, but its practical implementation demands broader utilization of the available degrees of freedom within the optical field. To date, integrated photonic quantum systems have primarily relied on path encoding. However, in the classical regime, the transverse spatial modes of a multi-mode waveguide have been easily manipulated using the waveguide geometry to densely encode information. Here, we demonstrate quantum interference between the transverse spatial modes within a single multi-mode waveguide using quantum circuit-building blocks. This work shows that spatial modes can be controlled to an unprecedented level and have the potential to enable practical and robust quantum information processing.

On-chip platform for a phased array with minimal beam divergence and wide field-of-view

Current silicon photonics phased arrays based on waveguide gratings enable beam steering with no moving parts. However, they suffer from a trade-off between beam divergence and field of view. Here, we show a platform based on silicon-nitride/silicon that achieves simultaneously minimal beam divergence and maximum field of view while maintaining performance that is robust to fabrication variations. In addition, in order to maximize the emission from the entire length of the grating, we design the gratings strength by varying its duty cycle (apodization) to emit uniformly. We fabricate a millimeter long grating emitter with diffraction-limited beam divergence of 0.089°.

Microphotonic needle for minimally invasive endoscopic imaging with sub-cellular resolution

Ultra-compact micro-optical elements for endoscopic instruments and miniaturized microscopes allow for non-invasive and non-destructive examination of microstructures and tissues. With sub-cellular level resolution such instruments could provide immediate diagnosis that is virtually consistent with a histologic diagnosis enabling for example to differentiate the boundaries between malignant and benign tissue. Such instruments are now being developed at a rapid rate; however, current manufacturing technologies limit the instruments to very large sizes, well beyond the sub-mm sizes required in order to ensure minimal tissue damage. We show here a platform based on planar microfabrication and soft lithography that overcomes the limitation of current optical elements enabling single cell resolution. We show the ability to resolve lithographic features that are as small as 2 μm using probes with a cross section that is only 100 microns in size. We also show the ability to image individual activated neural cells in brain slices via our fabricated probe.

Reconfigurable visible nanophotonic switch for optogenetic applications (Conference Presentation)

High spatiotemporal resolution deep-brain optical excitation for optogenetics would enable activation of specific neural populations and in-depth study of neural circuits. Conventionally, a single fiber is used to flood light into a large area of the brain with limited resolution. The scalability of silicon photonics could enable neural excitation over large areas with single-cell resolution similar to electrical probes. However, active control of these optical circuits has yet to be demonstrated for optogenetics. Here we demonstrate the first active integrated optical switch for neural excitation at 473 nm, enabling control of multiple beams for deep-brain neural stimulation. Using a silicon nitride waveguide platform, we develop a cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) network located outside the brain to direct light to 8 different grating emitters located at the tip of the neural probe. We use integrated platinum microheaters to induce a local thermo-optic phase shift in the MZI to control the switch output. We measure an ON/OFF extinction ratio of >8dB for a single switch and a switching speed of 20 microseconds. We characterize the optical output of the switch by imaging its excitation of fluorescent dye. Finally, we demonstrate in vivo single-neuron optical activation from different grating emitters using a fully packaged device inserted into a mouse brain. Directly activated neurons showed robust spike firing activities with low first-spike latency and small jitter. Active switching on a nanophotonic platform is necessary for eventually controlling highly-multiplexed reconfigurable optical circuits, enabling high-resolution optical stimulation in deep-brain regions.

High resolution microphotonic needle for endoscopic imaging (Conference Presentation)

GRIN (Graded index) lens have revolutionized micro endoscopy enabling deep tissue imaging with high resolution. The challenges of traditional GRIN lenses are their large size (when compared with the field of view) and their limited resolution. This is because of the relatively weak NA in standard graded index lenses. Here we introduce a novel micro-needle platform for endoscopy with much higher resolution than traditional GRIN lenses and a FOV that corresponds to the whole cross section of the needle. The platform is based on polymeric (SU-8) waveguide integrated with a microlens micro fabricated on a silicon substrate using a unique molding process. Due to the high index of refraction of the material the NA of the needle is much higher than traditional GRIN lenses. We tested the probe in a fluorescent dye solution (19.6 µM Alexa Flour 647 solution) and measured a numerical aperture of 0.25, focal length of about 175 µm and minimal spot size of about 1.6 µm. We show that the platform can image a sample with the field of view corresponding to the cross sectional area of the waveguide (80x100 µm2). The waveguide size can in principle be modified to vary size of the imaging field of view. This demonstration, combined with our previous work demonstrating our ability to implant the high NA needle in a live animal, shows that the proposed system can be used for deep tissue imaging with very high resolution and high field of view.

On-chip thermo-optic tuning of suspended microresonators

Suspended optical microresonators are promising devices for on-chip photonic applications such as radio-frequency oscillators, optical frequency combs, and sensors. Scaling up these devices demands the capability to tune the optical resonances in an integrated manner. Here, we design and experimentally demonstrate integrated on-chip thermo-optic tuning of suspended microresonators by utilizing suspended wire bridges and microheaters. We demonstrate the ability to tune the resonance of a suspended microresonator in silicon nitride platform by 9.7 GHz using 5.3 mW of heater power. The loaded optical quality factor (QL ~92,000) stays constant throughout the detuning. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach by completely turning on and off the optical coupling between two evanescently coupled suspended microresonators.