Thickness-dependent slow light gap solitons in three-dimensional coupled photonic crystal waveguides.

The thickness-dependent multimodal nature of three-dimensional (3D) coupled photonic crystal waveguides is investigated with the aim of realizing a medium for controlled optical gap soliton formation in the slow light regime. In the linear case, spectral properties of the modes (dispersion diagrams), location of the gap regions versus the thickness of the 3D photonic crystal, and the near-field distributions at frequencies in the slow light region are analyzed using a full-wave electromagnetic solver. In the nonlinear regime (Kerr-type nonlinearity), we infer an existence of crystal-thickness-dependent temporal solitons with stable pulse envelope and use the solitonic pulses for driving quantum transitions in localized quantum systems within the photonic crystal waveguide. The results may be useful for applications in optical communications, multiplexing systems, nonlinear physics, and ultrafast spectroscopy.

Localized surface plasmon resonance in the IR regime.

Arrays of differently sized disk shaped gold nanoantennas are prepared on glass, which show localized surface plasmon resonance and Rayleigh anomalies in the near infrared and telecom range between 1000 and 1500 nm wavelength. The spectral position of these grating resonances depends critically on the period of the array and the size of the nanoantennas. When PbS quantum dots embedded in PMMA surround the nanoantennas, an up to four fold enhancement of the photoluminescence is observed at the grating resonances due to the constructive diffractive feedback among neighboring antennas. In accordance with the grating resonances a shift of the emission towards smaller wavelengths with decreasing disk diameter is demonstrated.

Tuning of zero group velocity dispersion in infiltrated vertical silicon slot waveguides.

In this work the design of Si / hybrid waveguides which contain a vertical infiltrated slot is studied. The case of slots infiltrated with a χ³ nonlinear material of relatively high refractive index (e.g. chalcogenide glasses) is specifically discussed. An optimized waveguide geometry with periodic refractive index modulation, a nonlinear figure of merit > 1 and minimum effective mode cross section is presented. Introducing a periodic refractive index variation along the waveguide allows the adjustment of the group velocity dispersion (GVD). Choosing the period accordingly, the phase matching condition for degenerate four wave mixing (GVD = 0) can be fulfilled at virtually any desired frequency and independently from the fixed optimized waveguide cross section.

Strained Silicon Photonics.

A review of recent progress in the field of strained silicon photonics is presented. The application of strain to waveguide and photonic crystal structures can be used to alter the linear and nonlinear optical properties of these devices. Here, methods for the fabrication of strained devices are summarized and recent examples of linear and nonlinear optical devices are discussed. Furthermore, the relation between strain and the enhancement of the second order nonlinear susceptibility is investigated, which may enable the construction of optically active photonic devices made of silicon.

Designing the quality factor of infiltrated photonic wire slot microcavities.

One-dimensional photonic wire (nanobeam) microcavities are becoming preferred tools for the investigation of enhanced light-matter interaction. Here, the Q-factor of a locally infiltrated slot microcavity in a nanobeam is theoretically investigated. The electric field of the cavity mode is concentrated in the slot region leading to a large overlap with the infiltrated material. Tapering the spacing and diameter of the pores of the adjacent Bragg mirrors a maximum Q-factor of 35,000 is predicted. General design rules for the minimization of scattering losses and the enhancement of quality factors are reviewed and discussed.

Strain dependence of second-harmonic generation in silicon.

Strained silicon is a versatile new type of material, which has found application in microelectronics and integrated optics in the last years. Unlike ordinary silicon, it does not possess a centrosymmetric lattice structure. This allows for stimulation of nonlinear optical processes that involve second-order nonlinear susceptibility. Here, the dependence of the nonlinear susceptibility on the applied strain by means of reflected second-harmonic generation is investigated. This surface-sensitive technique is suitable for the investigation of bulk silicon strained by a layer of thermal oxide. The obtained relation between applied stress and susceptibility enhancement is compared to theoretical prediction based on an analytical model for the deformed silicon orbital. The knowledge of the stress-susceptibility dependence can be used to develop suitable photonic devices that benefit from second-order nonlinear processes in silicon.

Second sound in bursting freely suspended smectic-A films.

We describe the bursting of macroscopic spherical bubbles formed by smectic liquid crystals. During rupture, strong light scattering is observed. It is suggested here that peristaltic undulations of the films are responsible for this scattering. This phenomenon distinguishes bursting smectic films from bursting soap films. The dynamics of these mechanical waves are strongly influenced by the internal layered structure of the smectic films, viz. by the elasticity of the molecular layers, expressed by the smectic layer compression modulus B. We study experimentally the optical properties of bursting smectic films by means of optical transmission measurements and laser scattering. The typical wavelength range of the propagating peristaltic waves is in the micrometer range. The wavelength spectrum rather is independent of the initial film thickness delta, but the scattering intensity strongly depends on delta.

Inclusions in free standing smectic liquid crystal films.

Colloidal inclusions in thin free standing liquid crystal films are ideal model systems for 2D anisotropic dispersions. Different types of self-organization in chain and lattice structures have been observed. The orientational elasticity of the anisotropic matrix and capillary forces are the dominating interaction mechanisms between solid or liquid inclusions, the director field, and dislocations of the films. We give an overview of the progress in this field, focussing on different inclusion types and their interactions in thermotropic smectic films.

Stick-slip dynamics around a topological defect in free-standing smectic films.

We study the orientational relaxation of a spiral pattern around a central defect with topological strength S=+1 in free-standing smectic films. Instead of a continuous unwinding, a characteristic stick-slip relaxation is observed, where the elastic anisotropy plays the dominant role for the director anchoring in the vicinity of the defect. A model derived from nematic continuum theory is used to interpret the experimental observations.

Vortex flow in freestanding smectic films driven by elastic relaxation of the c director.

We report a simple experiment in freestanding smectic films in which elastic distortions of the c director drive macroscopic flow. The flow field is visualized with tracer particles. Measurements are compared to predictions of a model that employs the coupled dynamic equations for director and velocity fields. Relaxation dynamics depends on the topology of the film center: for defect-free target patterns, shear flow provides the dominating contribution to the c director dynamics. In presence of a central topological defect of strength S = + 1, the influence of flow on the relaxation dynamics is practically negligible, while for a central S = - 1 defect, the influence of vortex flow on the c-director relaxation is roughly twice as large as for the defect-free state.

Optical properties of electrohydrodynamic convection patterns: rigorous and approximate methods.

We analyze the optical behavior of two-dimensionally periodic structures that occur in electrohydrodynamic convection (EHC) patterns in nematic sandwich cells. These structures are anisotropic, locally uniaxial, and periodic on the scale of micrometers. For the first time, the optics of these structures is investigated with a rigorous method. The method used for the description of the electromagnetic waves interacting with EHC director patterns is a numerical approach that discretizes directly the Maxwell equations. It works as a space-grid-time-domain method and computes electric and magnetic fields in time steps. This so-called finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method is able to generate the fields with arbitrary accuracy. We compare this rigorous method with earlier attempts based on ray-tracing and analytical approximations. Results of optical studies of EHC structures made earlier based on ray-tracing methods are confirmed for thin cells, when the spatial periods of the pattern are sufficiently large. For the treatment of small-scale convection structures, the FDTD method is without alternatives.