M. H. Shih

Two-dimensional photonic crystal Mach–Zehnder interferometers

Mach-Zehnder interferometers were fabricated from suspended membrane photonic crystal waveguides. Transmission spectra were measured and device operation was shown to be in agreement with theoretical predictions.

High-quality-factor photonic crystal heterostructure laser

A high-quality-factor (Q) photonic crystal heterostructure laser was designed and characterized. Good agreement was obtained between the experimental lasing data and three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain numerical predictions.

Experimental characterization of the optical loss of sapphire-bonded photonic crystal laser cavities

Sapphire-bonded photonic crystal laser cavities with varying number of photonic crystal periods were studied in order to determine the optical loss in these cavities. The lasing threshold increases as the number of lattice periods decreases, and the quality factors of these cavities were calculated from the lasing threshold data. Continuous-wave operation was achieved for cavities with eight or more cladding periods

Linewidth and modulation response of two-dimensional microcavity photonic crystal lattice defect lasers

Linewidth and small-signal modulation response measurements are reported for room-temperature-operating microcavity two-dimensional photonic crystal lasers. The measured optical linewidth versus the output power was found to saturate at values on the order of 1 GHz. The modulation bandwidth for these low-power lasers was demonstrated to be on the order of 10 GHz

Photonic crystal lasers in InGaAsP on a SiO 2 /Si substrate and its thermal impedance

Two-dimensional photonic crystal defect lasers in InGaAsP membranes directly bonded to a SiO(2)/Si substrate have been demonstrated. Lasing at wavelengths near 1550 nm was obtained with incident threshold pump powers as low as 1.5 mW. Good agreement between experimental data and three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation was achieved. The thermal impedance of this laser is also characterized.

120μW peak output power from edge-emitting photonic crystal double-heterostructure nanocavity lasers

As an attempt to collect more in-plane emission power out of wavelength size two-dimensional photonic crystal defect lasers, edge-emitting photonic crystal double-heterostructure quantum well membrane lasers were fabricated by shortening the number of cladding periods on one side. 120μW peak output power was collected from the facet of the single mode laser at room temperature. Laser efficiencies were analyzed and agree very well with three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain modeling.

Identification of modes and single mode operation of sapphire-bonded photonic crystal lasers under continuous-wave room temperature operation

Sapphire-bonded photonic crystal laser cavities were fabricated and characterized under room temperature continuous-wave operation, and the single mode lasing with a side-mode-suppression ratio of 28dB was observed. The lasing modes of the photonic crystal cavities were characterized and compared to calculated spectra from the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method.

Experimental characterization of the reflectance of 60° waveguide bends in photonic crystal waveguides

Photonic crystal waveguides with two 60° bends were fabricated in an InGaAsP∕InP suspended membrane geometry. The transmission spectrum was measured and the reflectance of the 60° bend was evaluated from Fabry–Perot oscillations using Fourier analysis. It is shown that the reflectance agrees well with the results of a finite element method simulation.

Photonic crystal microcavity lasers

Photonic crystal lasers will be discussed with particular emphasis on devices capable of room temperature CW operation and devices with quantum dot active regions. CW lasers have -3 dB modulation bandwidths over 10 GHz with approximately 30 dB of side mode suppression. An analysis of the modulation response and the linewidth of microcavity lasers suggests that gain nonlinearities and microcavity effects may be playing an important role in these device characteristics. The photonic crystal lasers with quantum dot active regions have absorbed powers at threshold of under 15 muW. The presentation will also describe approaches to increasing the output power obtained from these lasers illustrated with data showing 100 muW of pulsed output power from a microcavity photonic crystal laser.

60 microWatts of Fiber-Coupled Peak Output Power from an Edge-Emitting Photonic Crystal Heterostructure Laser

An array of double-heterostructure photonic crystal QW membrane lasers was fabricated in which number of cladding periods was varied. 60 muW peak output power was collected from the facet of one device by a bare fiber.