Photonic crystal waveguides intersection for resonant quantum dot optical spectroscopy detection.

Using a finite-difference time-domain method, we theoretically investigate the optical spectra of crossing perpendicular photonic crystal waveguides with quantum dots embedded in the central rod. The waveguides are designed so that the light mainly propagates along one direction and the cross talk is greatly reduced in the transverse direction. It is shown that when a quantum dot (QD) is resonant with the cavity, strong coupling can be observed via both the transmission and crosstalk spectrum. If the cavity is far off-resonant from the QD, both the cavity mode and the QD signal can be detected in the transverse direction since the laser field is greatly suppressed in this direction. This structure could have strong implications for resonant excitation and in-plane detection of QD optical spectroscopy.

Tuning quantum-dot based photonic devices with liquid crystals.

Microdisks made from GaAs with embedded InAs quantum dots are immersed in the liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB). The quantum dots serve as emitters feeding the optical modes of the photonic cavity. By changing temperature, the liquid crystal undergoes a phase transition from the isotropic to the nematic state, which can be used as an effective tuning mechanism of the photonic modes of the cavity. In the nematic state, the uniaxial electrical anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules can be exploited for orienting the material in an electric field, thus externally controlling the birefringence of the material. Using this effect, an electric field induced tuning of the modes is achieved. Numerical simulations using the finite-differences time-domain (FDTD) technique employing an anisotropic dielectric medium allow to understand the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules on the surface of the microdisk resonator.