D. C. Meisel

Three-dimensional face-centered-cubic photonic crystal templates by laser holography: fabrication, optical characterization, and band-structure calculations

We fabricate three-dimensional photoresist templates by means of laser holography. In particular, fcc structures are achieved by placing a specially designed “prism” onto the photoresist surface. This solves the problem of previous work, in which the refraction at the air–photoresist interface made it impossible to obtain the required angles of the light wave vectors inside the photoresist. The photoresist templates are characterized by scanning electron microscopy as well as by optical transmission spectroscopy, which agree well with numerical band-structure calculations.

Diffraction properties of two-dimensional photonic crystals

We show that the envelope of the diffraction efficiency of a two-dimensional photonic crystal can exhibit spectral regions of very small diffraction efficiency (<5×10−3), while in other regions, the diffraction efficiency is near unity. The experimental results on higher bands of hexagonal, silicon-based photonic crystals agree well with corresponding numerical calculations and highlight the prominent role of the surface termination, an aspect which cannot be described by the photonic band structure alone. We speculate about possible applications of such additional spectral filters in Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy.

Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystals

We review our work on two complementary and compatible techniques, namely direct laser writing and holographic lithography which are suitable for fabricating three-dimensional Photonic Crystal templates for the visible and near-infrared. The structures are characterized by electron micrographs and by optical spectroscopy, revealing their high optical quality.

Three-Dimensional Lithography of Photonic Crystals

We present our work on the fabrication of three-dimensional Photonic Crystal templates by holographic lithography and direct laser writing. Both optical methods are highly qualified for the production of top-quality polymeric three-dimensional Photonic Crystals and allow in combination the controlled incorporation of defects and waveguides in large-area structures. Scanning electron micrographs and optical spectra of different Photonic Crystals are presented and compared with numerical simulations. Our roadmap to infiltrate the polymeric templates with high refractive-index materials is outlined.

Large-area magnetic metamaterials for photonics by interference lithography

We present a novel approach for fabricating large-area (16 times 22 mm2) magnetic metamaterials with a negative magnetic permeability at telecom wavelengths. Our approach brings the complexity of fabricating magnetic layers down to that of dielectric layers.

3D photonic bandgap templating using holography and direct laser writing

We review our work on fabricating templates for photonic band gap materials at telecommunication wavelengths via holography and direct laser writing. Measured optical spectra are compared with theory, revealing the excellent quality of these structures.

Angle- and spectrally-resolved Bragg scattering on two-dimensional silicon-based photonic crystals

The angle dependent diffraction efficiency of 2D photonic crystals is measured to be lower than 5/spl middot/10-4 for certain frequencies and unity spectrally nearby in good agreement with numerical calculations, whereby the surface termination is crucial.