Tailoring Correlations of the Local Density of States in Disordered Photonic Materials

Strongly Inhibited Spontaneous Emission of PbS Quantum Dots Covalently Bound to 3D Silicon Photonic Band Gap Crystals

We present an optical study of the spontaneous emission of lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystal quantum dots in 3D photonic band gap crystals made from silicon. The nanocrystals emit in the near-infrared range to be compatible with 3D silicon nanophotonics. The nanocrystals are covalently bound to polymer brush layers that are grafted from the Si-air interfaces inside the nanostructure by using surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. The presence and position of the quantum dots were previously characterized by synchrotron X-ray fluorescence tomography. We report both continuous wave emission spectra and time-resolved, time-correlated single photon counting. In time-resolved measurements, we observe that the total emission rate greatly increases when the quantum dots are transferred from suspension to the silicon nanostructures, likely due to quenching (or increased nonradiative decay) that is tentatively attributed to the presence of Cu catalysts during the synthesis. In this regime, continuous wave emission spectra are known to be proportional to the radiative rate and thus to the local density of states. In spectra normalized to those taken on flat silicon outside the crystals, we observe a broad and deep stop band that we attribute to a 3D photonic band gap with a relative bandwidth of up to 26%. The shapes of the relative emission spectra match well with the theoretical density of states spectra calculated with plane-wave expansion. The observed inhibition is 4-30 times, similar to previously reported record inhibitions, yet for coincidental reasons. Our results are relevant to applications in photochemistry, sensing, photovoltaics, and efficient miniature light sources.

All-optical multilevel physical unclonable functions

Disordered photonic structures are promising for the realization of physical unclonable functions-physical objects that can overcome the limitations of conventional digital security and can enable cryptographic protocols immune against attacks by future quantum computers. The physical configuration of traditional physical unclonable functions is either fixed or can only be permanently modified, allowing one token per device and limiting their practicality. Here we overcome this limitation by creating reconfigurable structures made by light-transformable polymers in which the physical structure of the unclonable function can be reconfigured reversibly. Our approach allows the simultaneous coexistence of multiple physical unclonable functions within one device. The physical transformation is done all-optically in a reversible and spatially controlled fashion, allowing the generation of more complex keys. At the same time, as a set of switchable individual physical unclonable functions, it enables the authentication of multiple clients and allows for the practical implementations of quantum secure authentication and nonlinear generators of cryptographic keys.

Long-range spatio-temporal correlations in multimode fibers for pulse delivery

Long-range correlations play an essential role in wave transport through disordered media, but have rarely been studied in other complex systems. Here we discover spatio-temporal intensity correlations for an optical pulse propagating through a multimode fiber with strong random mode coupling. Positive long-range correlation arises from multiple scattering in fiber mode space and depends on the statistical distribution of arrival times. By optimizing the incident wavefront of a pulse, we maximize the power transmitted at a selected time, and such control is significantly enhanced by the long-range spatio-temporal correlation. We provide an explicit relation between the correlation and the power enhancement, which agrees with experimental results. Our work shows that multimode fibers provide a fertile ground for studying complex wave phenomena. The strong spatio-temporal correlation can be employed for efficient power delivery at a well-defined time.

Long-range correlations play a role in wave transport through disordered media but have rarely been studied in other systems. Here, the authors discover long-range spatio-temporal correlations in multimode fibers with strong random mode mixing, revealing the possibility of utilizing such correlations for effective pulse delivery through the fiber.

Mechanical and Electric Control of Photonic Modes in Random Dielectrics

Random dielectrics defines a class of non-absorbing materials where the index of refraction is randomly arranged in space. Whenever the transport mean free path is sufficiently small, light can be confined in modes with very small volume. Random photonic modes have been investigated for their basic physical insights, such as Anderson localization, and recently several applications have been envisioned in the field of renewable energies, telecommunications, and quantum electrodynamics. An advantage for optoelectronics and quantum source integration offered by random systems is their high density of photonic modes, which span a large range of spectral resonances and spatial distributions, thus increasing the probability to match randomly distributed emitters. Conversely, the main disadvantage is the lack of deterministic engineering of one or more of the many random photonic modes achieved. This issue is solved by demonstrating the capability to electrically and mechanically control the random modes at telecom wavelengths in a 2D double membrane system. Very large and reversible mode tuning (up to 50 nm), both toward shorter or longer wavelength, is obtained for random modes with modal volumes of the order of few tens of (λ/n)³ .

Level spacing statistics for light in two-dimensional disordered photonic crystals

We study the distribution of eigenfrequency spacings (the so-called level spacing statistics) for light in a two-dimensional (2D) disordered photonic crystal composed of circular dielectric (silicon) rods in air. Disorder introduces localized transverse-magnetic (TM) modes into the band gap of the ideal crystal. The level spacing statistics is found to approach the Poisson distribution for these modes. In contrast, for TM modes outside the band gap and for transverse-electric (TE) modes at all frequencies, the level spacing statistics follows the Wigner-Dyson distribution.