Confining Light in the NM Scale

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Confining Light in the Nanometer Scale Michal Lipson, Cornell University 0601460 Intellectual Merit: The demonstration of novel efficient light emitters that consume very little power and are small in size on a chip-scale has been a goal of the scientific community. Such devices require the use of photonic structures, such as photonic crystals, which confine light in small dimensions and enhance light emission in specific directions through redistribution of the photonic density of states. Such structures are usually limited in size to the order of the wavelength of light, which in turn induces a limited enhancement of the light emission efficiency, proportional to the degree of confinement. Here it is proposed to remove this limitation on the degree of light confinement by demonstrating extremely low optical modal volumes experimentally. The ability to increase the confinement of light well beyond the levels achieved with traditional photonic structures has the potential for increased light emission as well as modulation. Broader Impacts: The fundamental knowledge gained by studying strong light confining structures for increased light emission has direct importance for a wide variety of novel applications such as amplification, sensing, lasing and switching that can be massively integrated on a chip-scale. As part of the educational effort it is proposed to develop an educational program for exposing students to photonics as an interdisciplinary area and enhancing the undergraduate and graduate Electrical and Computer Engineering curriculum in the area of photonics. An interdisciplinary seminar series will be developed for undergraduate and graduate students, and novel subjects of photonics will be introduced through lectures and laboratories in two courses in the ECE department at Cornell University.