Lan Sheng

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.

Unidirectional Transmission in Asymmetrically Confined Photonic Crystal Defects with Kerr Nonlinearity

We investigate the unidirectional transmission behaviour of an asymmetrically confined photonic crystal (PC) defect with Kerr nonlinearity. Basically, the unidirectional transmission originates from the strong dependence of the threshold input power for the sharp increase of transmission on the launch direction of the input wave. This can be well explained in the framework of the coupled mode theory. Our theoretical analysis reveals the existence of an upper limit for the transmission contrast when such a single PC defect is employed. This is supported by the simulation results based on the nonlinear finite-difference time-domain technique.

Analysis and engineering of coupled cavity waveguides based on coupled-mode theory

The analytical expression for the transmission spectra of coupled cavity waveguides (CCWs) in photonic crystals (PCs) is derived based on the coupled-mode theory (CMT). Parameters in the analytical expression can be extracted by simple numerical simulations. We reveal that it is the phase shift between the two adjacent PC defects that uniquely determines the flatness of the impurity bands of CCWs. In addition, it is found that the phase shift also greatly affects the bandwidth of CCWs. Thus, the engineering of the impurity bands of CCWs can be realized through the adjustment of the phase shift. Based on the theoretical results, an interesting phenomenon in which a CCW acts as a single PC defect and its impurity band possesses a Lorentz lineshape is predicted. Very good agreement between the analytical results and the numerical simulations based on transfer matrix method has been achieved.

Conservation laws of the generalized nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger equation

The derivations of several conservation laws of the generalized nonlocal nonlinear Schrodinger equation are pre- sented. These invariants are the number of particles, the momentum, the angular momentum and the Hamiltonian in the quantum mechanical analogy. The Lagrangian is also presented.

Modulation of Junction Defects Created by Crossing Photonic Crystal Waveguides

In optical circuits, functional elements are often placed on waveguide junctions. We show that a junction in photonic crystals (PCs) possesses localized modes very close to the bandpass of waveguides. Their mode resonances and field patterns can be controlled by modulating the PC waveguides. It is expected that functions such as switching and routing could be developed naturally by using junction modes without any special design of microcavities. Our calculation results can be explained by the coupled mode theory.

Numerical Confirmation of Multi-Reflections of Light Inside a Subwavelength Metal Slit Structure

The propagation behavior of light passing through a subwavelength metal slit structure is usually modeled by a Fabry-Perot (FP) resonant cavity based on the feature of transmission spectra. However, this mechanism belongs to a conjecture and it should be proven. We present a direct evidence from the numerical simulations of the amplitude distribution of the magnetic field by employing the time-domain simulation method. The light propagation behavior clearly shows a multi-reflection process inside a subwavelength slit as soon as it enters the slit. An analytical formula for calculating the field distribution involving the multi-reflection process is presented, and the theoretical calculations agree with the numerically simulated results. Our results provide explicit evidence that the FP model is reasonable to the description of the propagation process of light inside a subwavelength slit structure.

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.

Influence of Deviation on Optical Transmission through Aperiodic Superlattices

We propose a deviation model and study the influences of the relative error and sensitivity of a machine on the transmission coefficients (TCs) of Fibonacci superlattices. It is found that for a system with fewer layers, the influence of deviation can be ignored. When superlattices become more complicated, they may be fabricated by a machine with suitable relative error and possess the designed value of TC. However, when the number of system layers exceeds some critical value, superlattices should be manufactured only by precise machines. The influence of the sensitivity is also discussed.