Cefe López

Large-scale synthesis of a silicon photonic crystal with a complete three-dimensional bandgap near 1.5 micrometres

Photonic technology, using light instead of electrons as the information carrier, is increasingly replacing electronics in communication and information management systems. Microscopic light manipulation, for this purpose, is achievable through photonic bandgap materials, a special class of photonic crystals in which three-dimensional, periodic dielectric constant variations controllably prohibit electromagnetic propagation throughout a specified frequency band. This can result in the localization of photons, thus providing a mechanism for controlling and inhibiting spontaneous light emission that can be exploited for photonic device fabrication. In fact, carefully engineered line defects could act as waveguides connecting photonic devices in all-optical microchips, and infiltration of the photonic material with suitable liquid crystals might produce photonic bandgap structures (and hence light-flow patterns) fully tunable by an externally applied voltage. However, the realization of this technology requires a strategy for the efficient synthesis of high-quality, large-scale photonic crystals with photonic bandgaps at micrometre and sub-micrometre wavelengths, and with rationally designed line and point defects for optical circuitry. Here we describe single crystals of silicon inverse opal with a complete three-dimensional photonic bandgap centred on 1.46 µm, produced by growing silicon inside the voids of an opal template of close-packed silica spheres that are connected by small ‘necks’ formed during sintering, followed by removal of the silica template. The synthesis method is simple and inexpensive, yielding photonic crystals of pure silicon that are easily integrated with existing silicon-based microelectronics.

Strong magnetic response of submicron Silicon particles in the infrared

High-permittivity dielectric particles with resonant magnetic properties are being explored as constitutive elements of new metamaterials and devices. Magnetic properties of low-loss dielectric nanoparticles in the visible or infrared are not expected due to intrinsic low refractive index of optical media in these regimes. Here we analyze the dipolar electric and magnetic response of lossless dielectric spheres made of moderate permittivity materials. For low material refractive index (<∼3) there are no sharp resonances due to strong overlapping between different multipole contributions. However, we find that Silicon particles with index of refraction∼3.5 and radius∼200 nm present strong electric and magnetic dipolar resonances in telecom and near-infrared frequencies, (i.e. at wavelengths≈1.2-2 mm) without spectral overlap with quadrupolar and higher order resonances. The light scattered by these Si particles can then be perfectly described by dipolar electric and magnetic fields.

Control of the Photonic Crystal Properties of fcc-Packed Submicrometer SiO2 Spheres by Sintering

We acknowledge M. Planes for his help during SEM characterization. This work was partially financed by the Spanish CICyT project No. MAT97-0698-C04 and the Fundacion Ramon Areces

Photonic crystal properties of packed submicrometric SiO2 spheres

In this letter, we investigate the optical properties of packed monodisperse silica submicron spheres by means of optical transmission measurements. The results are compatible with a three dimensional face centered cubic order in these solid structures. The lattice parameter of these structures, and therefore their optical properties, can be easily tuned through the sphere size (between 200 and 700 nm) thus covering the whole visible and near infrared spectrum.

The mode-locking transition of random lasers

Researchers report the first observation of the synchronous oscillation of electromagnetic modes in a cavity — known as mode-locking — in random lasers.

CdS photoluminescence inhibition by a photonic structure

Here we present experimental evidence of the strong modification of the CdS photoluminescence when it is embedded in a SiO2 colloidal photonic crystal. When the emitted light matches a forbidden photonic band in the matrix, inhibition of the semiconductor photoluminescence is achieved. In this work we prove the effective control of this effect by means of the photonic lattice parameter of the host. CdS was grown by chemical bath deposition and its quality has been checked employing Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. Scanning electron microscopy is used to study the morphology of the composite.

Synthesis of inverse opals

Here we report different simple and inexpensive approaches to the fabrication of inverse opals originated from silica opal templates with sphere size in the range between 0.2 and 1.3 μm. The opal porous lattice is infiltrated with semiconductors (CdS, Ge, Si) as well as polymers by several methods such as chemical vapour deposition, chemical bath deposition, and hydrolysis. Afterwards the template is removed from the composite by a mild chemical etching method giving rise to an inverse opal. The periodicity of the template is chosen to guarantee that photonic gaps or pseudogaps are in the transparency region of the bulk-infiltrated material, which in the case of silicon and germanium can be easily integrated in the existing microelectronic technology.

Photonic glasses: a step beyond white paint.

Self-assembly techniques are widely used to grow ordered structures such as, for example, opal-based photonic crystals. Here, we report on photonic glasses, new disordered materials obtained via a modified self-assembling technique. These random materials are solid thin films which exhibit rich novel light diffusion properties originating from the optical properties of their building blocks. This novel material inaugurated a wide range of nanophotonic materials with fascinating applications, such as resonant random lasers or Anderson localization.

Synthesis and photonic bandgap characterization of polymer inverse opals

Monodisperse silica colloids with diameters ranging from 200–500 nm aresynthesized following the Stober–Fink–Bohn method [47]. The as-synthesizedsilica sols are purified and redispersed in 200 proof ethanol by at least six centri-fugation/redispersion cycles. The methods described in our previous paper [36]are used to fabricate three-dimensionally ordered planar colloidal crystals withthickness ranging from one monolayer to 50 monolayers. In short, a glass slideis immersed vertically into ~15 mL purified silica sol (1% particle volume frac-tion) contained in a glass scintillation vial. After ethanol slowly evaporates, aniridescent film is formed on top of the glass slide. A large area (1 cm fl 3 cm)sample can be made over 3–5 days. After each single coating is deposited, thefilm is taken out of the silica sol and air-dried for 10 min and then dipped againinto another purified silica sol with differing particle size. This coating–drying–coating cycle can be repeated many times and each time the particle size can bearbitrary selected. The thickness of each crystalline sub-unit can be easily tunedby changing the concentration of the silica sol [36]. In this way, a layered struc-ture with an arbitrary pattern of sphere sizes can be assembled. Macroporouspolystyrene films are made by templating the colloidal crystal as describedbefore [18].SEM is carried out on a Philips XL30 ESEM. A CrC-100 sputtering systemhas been used to coat a thin layer of gold on the samples before SEM analysis.To reveal an edge appropriate for cross-sectional SEM analysis, the samples arescraped using a sharp razor blade and tilted 30–40˚. Transmission spectra areobtained by using an Ocean Optics ST2000 fiber optic UV–near-IR spectrome-ter. An Oriel model 6000 UV lamp with 68806 basic power supply is used topolymerize styrene.Received: October 5, 2000

Self-assembly approach to optical metamaterials

Photonic crystals can be viewed just as a subclass of a larger family of material systems called metamaterials in which the properties largely derive from the structure rather than from the material itself. Opals have only a relatively recent history as photonic bandgap materials and have received a strong thrust from their adequacy as scaffoldings for further templating other materials with photonic applications for instance. The tortuous route from materials to devices might perhaps find reward in the ease and low cost of fabrication of these materials. In this paper we present a review of recent work and work under way in our laboratory tending towards synthesis based on self-assembly to realize metamaterials in the optical range. This comprises the formation of the templates (opals) and subsequent synthesis of guest materials such as semiconductors, metals and insulators. The possibility of further processing allows additional two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional patterning for the design of new structures. In this paper we show how the raw matter can be checked for quality and learn how to use its optical properties to evaluate application potential. Issues relating to the optical properties (such as crystalline quality, finite size effects and infiltration with other materials) are examined. We show some examples where opals are used to pattern the growth of other materials with photonic applications (such as metals and semiconductors) and developments leading to both vertical and lateral engineering are shown.