ENHANCED RAMAN PHENOMENA IN PHOTONIC CRYSTAL NANOSTRUCTURES: SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

ENHANCED RAMAN PHENOMENA IN PHOTONIC CRYSTAL NANOSTRUCTURES: SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS 0622069 Wong, Chee Wei, Columbia University Intellectual Merit: Recent years have witnessed remarkable developments on Raman sources and amplifiers in silica optical microstructures and silicon waveguides. Based on either ultra-high quality factors (Q) found in silica microspheres for long photon-matter interaction times or tight wavelength-scale confinement in silicon waveguides, these efforts point to the feasibility of achieving on-chip optical signal gain and lasing at tunable wavelengths in silicon. The PI proposes to address these possibilities and further the advancements by investigating the significantly enhanced Raman phenomena in silicon-based photonic crystal nanostructures. Photonic crystals offer the unique ability to achieve high Q/Vm nanocavities (where Vm is the modal volume), and the arbitrary control of the dispersion characteristics to increase the photon-matter interaction times. The PI will study various low-loss photonic crystal cavities, consisting of one-dimensional and two-dimensional, single and coupled, as well as interaction with waveguides for high-density photonic integrated circuits, for enhancement of stimulated Raman scattering. The PI's theoretical developments will be complemented with experimental efforts and results in both device nanofabrication and physical measurements. This investigation presents a route to silicon-based optical amplification and wavelength-selectable lasing for electronic-photonic integrated circuits, and supports the study of cavity-enhanced nonlinear optics in subwavelength nanostructures. Broader Impact: This program investigates the important goal of low-threshold wavelength-selectable silicon lasing through Raman scattering in photonic crystals. This program will support the training and education of students at the graduate, undergraduate and high-school levels. Specific outreach modules on nanotechnology and nanophotonics will be developed for K-12 school teachers and presented at schools with a high proportion of minority and underrepresented students around the New York metropolitan area. The PI will participate actively in existing outreach programs as well as provide an enriching laboratory environment for the training and education of graduate, undergraduate, and high-school students.