Dai Qiao-Feng

Fabrication of high-quality three-dimensional photonic crystal heterostructures

Three-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) heterostructures with high quality are fabricated by using a pressure controlled isothermal heating vertical deposition technique. The formed heterostructures have higher quality, such as deeper band gaps and sharper band edges, than the heterostructures reported so far. Such a significant improvement in quality is due to the introduction of a thin TiO2 buffer layer between the two constitutional PCs. It is revealed that the disorder caused by lattice mismatch is successfully removed if the buffer layer is used once. As a result, the formed heterostructures possess the main features in the band gap of constitutional PCs. The crucial role of the thin buffer layer is also verified by numerical simulations based on the finite-difference time-domain technique.

In-Situ Characterization of Three-Dimensional Optical Matters by Light Diffraction

Three-dimensional optical matters are created by combining the single beam optical trapping with the conventional Z-scan technique. Dynamic light diffraction is employed to evaluate the structure and quality of the optical matter formed at the optimum trapping power. The lattice constant of the optical matter is extracted based on the Bragg and Snell laws, showing that polystyrene spheres are nearly close-packed in the optical matter, confirmed by comparing the diffraction pattern of the optical matter with that of a colloidal photonic crystal fabricated by the self-assembled technique. The relatively broad diffraction peaks observed in the optical matter indicate that the density of disorders in it is higher than that in the photonic crystal. It is suggested that the optical matter possesses a random close-packed structure rather than a face centered cubic one.

Modification of spontaneous emission rate of micrometer-sized light sources using hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

We investigate numerically and experimentally the modification of the spontaneous emission rate for micrometer-sized light sources embedded in a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF). The diameter of the light source is deliberately chosen such that they could be easily introduced into the central hole of the hollow-core photonic crystal fiber by capillary force. The photoluminescence from the microparticles is measured by using an inverted microscope in combination with a spectrometer. The modification of the spontaneous emission rate is observed in a wavelength region where there is no band gap. The experimental observations are consistent with the simulation results obtained by the plane wave expansion and finite-difference time-domain techniques.

Fabrication of high-quality colloidal photonic crystals with sharp band edges for ultrafast all-optical switching

Application of the pressure controlled isothermal heating vertical deposition method to the fabrication of colloidal photonic crystals is systematically investigated in this paper. The fabricated samples are characterized by scanning electron microscope and transmission spectrum. High-quality samples with large transmissions in the pass bands and the sharp band edges are obtained and the optimum growth condition is determined. For the best sample, the transmission in the pass bands approaches 0.9 while that in the band gap reaches 0.1. More importantly, the maximum differential transmission as high as 0.1/nm is achieved. In addition, it is found that the number of stacking layers does not increase linearly with concentration of PS spheres in a solution, and a gradual saturation occurs when the concentration of PS spheres exceeds 1.5 wt.%. The uniformity of the fabricated samples is examined by transmission measurements on areas with different sizes. Finally, the tolerance of the fabricated samples to baking was studied.

Response of colloidal liquids containing magnetic holes of different volume densities to magnetic field characterized by transmission measurement

This paper systematically investigates the response of colloidal liquids containing magnetic holes of different volume densities to magnetic field by conventional transmission measurements. It finds that the enhancement in the transmission of such a colloidal liquid under a magnetic field exhibits a strong dependence on the volume density of magnetic holes. A linear increase in the maximum enhancement factor is observed when the volume density of magnetic holes is below a critical level at which a maximum enhancement factor of ~150 is achieved in the near infrared region. Once the volume density of magnetic holes exceeds the critical level, a sharp drop of the maximum enhancement factor to ~2 is observed. After that, the maximum enhancement factor increases gradually till a large volume density of ~9%. By monitoring the arrangement of magnetic holes under a magnetic field, it reveals that the colloidal liquids can be classified into three different phases, i.e., the gas-like, liquid-like and solid-like phases, depending on the volume density of magnetic holes. The response behaviour of colloidal liquids to magnetic field is determined by the interaction between magnetic holes which is governed mainly by their volume density. A phase transition, which is manifested in the dramatic reduction in the maximum enhancement factor, is clearly observed between the liquid-like and solid-like phases. The optical switching operations for colloidal liquids in different phases are compared and the underlying physical mechanisms are discussed.

Optical switching based on the manipulation of microparticles in a colloidal liquid using strong scattering force

This paper demonstrates the realization of an optical switch by optically manipulating a large number of polystyrene spheres contained in a capillary. The strong scattering force exerted on polystyrene spheres with a large diameter of 4.3 „m is employed to realize the switching operation. A transparent window is opened for the signal light when the polystyrene spheres originally located at the beam centre are driven out of the beam region by the strong scattering force induced by the control light. The switching dynamics under difierent incident powers is investigated and compared with that observed in the optical switch based on the formation of optical matter. It is found that a large extinction ratio of » 30 dB and fast switching-on and switching-ofi times can be achieved in this type of switch.