D. Shin

High-efficiency guided-mode resonance filter

A high-efficiency guided-mode resonance reflection filter is reported. The device consists of a surface-relief photoresist grating and an underlying HfO (2) waveguide layer deposited on a fused-silica substrate. The spectral response measured with a dye-laser beam at normal incidence exhibited a peak reflectance of 98% at a wavelength of 860 nm with sideband reflectance below approximately 5% extending over the wavelength range provided by the dye (800-900 nm). At normal incidence the filter linewidth was 2.2 nm. High-efficiency double-peak resonances occurred at nonnormal incidence, with the spectral locations of the maxima vayring with the incidence angle. The filter response at various angles of incidence agreed well with the theoretically calculated reflectance curves.

Thin-film optical filters with diffractive elements and waveguides

The chief principles and properties of optical reflection and transmission guided-mode resonance (GMR) filters are presented. These devices are based on GMR effects in dielectric structures comprising gratings and homogeneous thin films. Detailed characteristics are calculated using rigorous coupled-wave analysis for bandpass filters operating in reflection and transmission for TE- and TM-polarized incident waves. High resonance efficiency with narrow or wide linewidths is achievable with near-zero reflectance or transmittance sidebands over extended wavelength ranges. To illustrate the potential of this technology, example GMR reflection and transmission characteristics are presented for filters operating in the visible spectral region. Excellent reflection-filter features are found when antireflection conditions prevail away from the resonance wavelength. Furthermore, long-range, low sidebands are found to be obtainable for a single-layer GMR reflection filter with a TM-polarized plane wave incident at the Brewster angle. The transmission filter is optimized when the structure is highly reflective off resonance. GMR filter fabrication tolerances are discussed with examples illustrating the sensitivity of the filter center wavelength to variations in layer thickness, grating shape, and incident angle. GMR filters are found to exhibit loss-dependent wavelength shifts such that the reflection peak occurs at a different wavelength than the corresponding transmission notch. However, under antireflection conditions, the resonance location becomes insensitive to loss. Finally, reflective GMR thinfilm structures that support multiple waveguide modes are studied. These devices exhibit unique characteristic angular and spectral signatures.

Guided-mode resonance Brewster filter.

A new type of optical filter is predicted theoretically and verified experimentally. The filter operates under guided-mode resonance conditions in a thin-film waveguide grating. A high-efficiency reflection filter response is produced at the Brewster angle at which TM reflection is classically prohibited. Low-reflectance sidebands are obtained that are adjacent to the resonance peak induced by the Brewster effect in the neighborhood of the resonance peak. A double-layer waveguide grating yields 94% experimental reflectance at the thin-film Brewster angle for a Gaussian laser beam with TM polarization at the 1064-nm wavelength.

Photonic devices enabled by waveguide-mode resonance effects in periodically modulated films

The chief properties and possible applications of periodic waveguides and their leaky modes are presented in this paper. After summarizing the basic physics of the guided-mode resonance, computed leaky-mode field patterns are provided to illustrate their structure and the high local focal field enhancement obtainable. An example fabricated bandstop filter is found to exhibit 90% efficiency, 1 nm linewidth, and low sidebands. Computed spectra for a single-layer bandpass filter operating at 1.55 μm wavelength yield low sidebands, extending 100 nm, and an angular aperture of ~1.7°. Resonant vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) are presented in which multilayer Bragg-stack mirrors are replaced with leaky-mode resonance layers. The use of guided-mode resonance mirrors provides optical power flow across and laterally along the laser active region. The round-trip gain is thereby increased resulting in high laser efficiency and relaxed mirror reflectivity constraints. As the GMR mirror achieves high reflectivity at resonance, the laser wavelength is locked at the resonance wavelength principally defined by the period. Example resonant VCSEL embodiments are shown along with their computed characteristics. Resonant biosensors are addressed last. The high parametric sensitivity of the guided-mode resonance effect, a potential limitation in filter applications, can be exploited for sensors as illustrated by several examples.

Resonant Brewster filters with absentee layers

A method for lowering the sideband levels associated with the spectral response of resonant waveguide-grating filters is presented. With a TM-polarized incident wave near the Brewster angle, the filter sidebands are suppressed by application of a half-wavelength absentee waveguide layer and an arbitrary-thickness grating layer. Adjusting the thickness of the grating layer permits control of the filter linewidth without appreciably affecting the sideband features. To verify the theoretical prediction, we fabricated and tested a double-layer waveguide-grating filter. It exhibited a peak efficiency of 82.4%, with sideband reflection levels below 0.6%, over a 95-nm spectral range.

Thin-film multilayer optical filters containing diffractive elements and waveguides

The principles and chief properties of optical reflection and transmission filters based on guided-mode resonance (GMR) effects in multilayer structures comprising gratings and homogeneous thin films are presented. Detailed fiber characteristics (center wavelength, lineshape, and linewidth) are calculated using rigorous coupled-wave analysis for TE and TM polarized incident waves. These filters exhibit desirable characteristics such as high resonance efficiency with narrow or wide linewidths. Near- zero reflectance sidebands over extended wavelength ranges are obtainable using multilayer waveguide-grating structures. To illustrate the potential of this technology, calculated GMR reflection and transmission example characteristics are presented for filters made with common thin-film materials operating in the visible spectral region. Excellent reflection-filter features are found when antireflection conditions prevail away from the resonance wavelength. The transmission filter is optimized when the structure is highly reflective off resonance. It is found that long-range, low sidebands are obtainable for a single- layer GMR filter with a TM-polarized plane wave incident at the Brewster angle. GMR filter fabrication tolerances are briefly discussed. A calculated example illustrates the sensitivity of the filter center wavelength to variations in layer thickness. The effects of absorptive loss are treated. It is shown that, in general, GMR filters suffer loss- dependent wavelength shifts such that the reflection peak occurs at a different wavelength than the corresponding transmission notch. However, under antireflection conditions, the resonance location becomes insensitive to loss. Finally, reflective GMR thin-film structures that support multiple waveguide modes are studied. These devices exhibit characteristic angular and spectral signatures with unique appearance.

Guided-mode resonance effects in thin-film diffractive optics and their applications

High-efficiency resonance coupling effects in zero-order diffractive multilayer structures have applications in fields such as optical filtering and laser technology. These resonance effects arise on phase matching of an incident laser beam to a leaky waveguide mode. Then, in theory, complete energy exchange between the input wave and a reflected wave can take place within narrow ranges in wavelength, angle of incidence, index of refraction, or layer thickness. This paper addresses theoretical modeling, experimental realization, and applications of this so-called guided-mode resonance (GMR) effect. In particular, the achievable GMR-filter efficiencies, spectral linewidths, sideband levels, and polarization characteristics are treated with a plane-wave model and a Gaussian-beam model. Resonance bandpass filters operating in reflection and transmission are shown to exhibit high efficiencies and extended low sidebands. Genetic algorithms are applied to solve inverse resonance-filter design problems. Applications including GMR laser mirrors, electro-optic modulators, and resonant Brewster filters are presented. Experimental results are shown to agree well with theoretical calculations.

Theory and experiments of resonant waveguide gratings under Brewster incidence

Guided-mode resonance refers to a sharp resonance effect in waveguide gratings where efficient energy exchange between reflected and transmitted waves occurs in a small parameter (wavelength, angle, or refractive index) range. High- efficiency optical reflection filters are obtainable using zero-order waveguide gratings based on this effect. In this paper, a new type of high-contrast (high efficiency and low- sideband) guided-mode resonance reflection filter is studied theoretically and experimentally. Low-reflection sidebands and symmetrical resonance lineshapes are achieved by incorporating thin-film Brewster effects for a TM-polarized incident wave. Experimental results verifying the feasibility of this concept are presented.

Waveguide-grating couplers for illumination of photonic antennas

To obtain uniform illumination of photonic reconfigurable antennas, a waveguide grating with a nonuniform grating profile may be used. Theoretical studies using approximate models indicate that the grating profile should have a hyperbolic spatial variation along the length of the coupler. This yields a spatially varying diffraction efficiency that compensates for the loss of light as it is diffracted out of the waveguide. Utilizing a holographic interferometer with a computer controlled shutter in one arm, gratings with appropriate spatial profile variation have been recorded in photoresist and transferred to produce photopolymer waveguide gratings. These planar couplers are integrated with optical fiber bundles for input light delivery. The grating periods are chosen to produce orthogonally propagating output waves. A dielectric mirror arrangement is used to reflect the parasitic diffracted order back onto the antenna element. The best devices obtained to date exhibit output uniformity of plus or minus 6% over a coupler length of 20 mm with total efficiency exceeding 50%.