Nanocavity-based self-frequency conversion laser

High-Q two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity on glass with an upper glass thin film

We numerically analyze two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavities on glass with a thin glass film on top of the structure. We investigated a multistep heterostructure GaAs PhC nanocavity located on glass. We found that covering the structure even with a very thin glass film efficiently suppresses unwanted polarization mode conversion occurring due to the asymmetric refractive index environment around the PhC. We also uncovered that the glass-covered structure can exhibit a higher Q factor than that observed in the structure symmetrically cladded with thick glass. We point out that the mode mismatch between the PhC nanocavity and modes in the upper glass film largely contributed to the observed Q-factor enhancement. These observations were further analyzed through the comparison among different types of on-glass PhC nanocavities covered with thin glass films. We also discuss that the in-plane structure of the upper glass film is important for additionally enhancing the Q factor of the nanocavity.

Observation of monochromatic and coherent luminescence from nanocavities of GaN nanowall network

Scaling-down the size of semiconductor cavity lasers and engineering their electromagnetic environment in the Purcell regime can bring about spectacular advance in nanodevices fabrication. We report here an unprecedented observation of a coherent Cathodoluminescence from GaN nanocavities (20-100 nm). Incident lower energy (< 15 kV) electron beams excite the band edge UV emission from the walls of the network whereas for higher energies, the emitted photons are spontaneously down converted into NIR and preferentially emerge from the nanocavities. Non-centrosymmetric structure of GaN and its nanowall geometry together facilitate this unique observation which is substantiated by our numerical results. At cryogenic temperatures, an intense and narrow laser-like NIR beam emanates out of the nanocavities. The work promises the possibility of fabrication of very high density (over 10⁸/cm²) cavity lasers that are addressable by simple deflection and tuning of incident electron beams.

Analysis of high-Q photonic crystal L3 nanocavities designed by visualization of the leaky components

We experimentally study photonic crystal L3 nanocavities whose design Q factors (Q_design) have been improved with the visualization of leaky components design method. The experimental Q values (Q_exp) are monotonically increased from 6,000 to 2,100,000 by iteratively modifying the positions of some of the air holes, as determined by the referred design method. We investigate the Q_exp tolerance to imperfections in the fabricated samples, which reveals that the cavities improved by the visualization method tend to lose some tolerance to structural differences between the fabricated samples and the design values.

Improvement in the quality factors for photonic crystal nanocavities via visualization of the leaky components

A method that simply improves the quality (Q) factors of two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavities using a three-dimensional finite-difference time domain calculation is described. The leaky area for a high-Q nanocavity mode is visualized in a real cavity structure by extracting the leaky components within a light cone in momentum space and by transferring them back into real space using an inverse Fourier transformation. The Q factor is remarkably improved by appropriately shifting the positions of air holes at the leaky area. We design three-missing-air-hole and zero-cell-defect nanocavities with Q factors of 5,000,000 and 1,700,000, respectively, for demonstration.

Asymmetric out-of-plane power distribution in a two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity

Conventional air-bridge two-dimensional photonic crystal (2D-PhC) nanocavities emit light with an equal power distribution for upward and downward out-of-plane directions. Some applications, however, require concentration of the radiation in a preferred direction. In this Letter, we design a 2D-PhC nanocavity that radiates dominantly into one of the out-of-plane directions with a narrow far-field distribution. Our design is based on a conventional air-bridge L3 photonic crystal nanocavity. The asymmetric out-of-plane power distribution is achieved solely by adding periodic shallow holes on the slab surface, which also function as a second-order grating for the directional beaming.

Multiple-channel wavelength conversions in a photonic crystal cavity

We demonstrate multiple-channel wavelength conversions of second harmonic and sum frequency generations in a silicon carbide photonic crystal cavity. The cavity is designed to have multiple modes including a nanocavity mode and Fabry-Pérot modes. Multiple-channel wavelength conversions in the nanocavity and Fabry-Pérot modes are shown experimentally. Furthermore, we investigate the polarization characteristics of wavelength-converted light. The experimental results of the polarization are in good agreement with calculation.

Multimode nanobeam cavities for nonlinear optics: high quality resonances separated by an octave

We demonstrate the design, fabrication and characterization of nanobeam cavities with multiple higher order modes. Designs with two high Q modes with frequency separations of an octave are introduced, and we fabricate such cavities exhibiting resonances with wavelength separations of up to 740 nm.

Nonlinear frequency conversion using high-quality modes in GaAs nanobeam cavities

We demonstrate the design, fabrication, and characterization of nanobeam photonic crystal cavities in (111)-GaAs with multiple high-Q modes, with large frequency separations (up to 740 nm in experiment, i.e., a factor of 1.5 and up to an octave in theory). Such structures are crucial for efficient implementation of nonlinear frequency conversion. Here, we employ them to demonstrate sum-frequency generation from 1300 and 1950 nm to 780 nm. These wavelengths are particularly interesting for quantum frequency conversion between Si vacancy centers in diamond and the fiber-optic network.

Second-harmonic generation in a silicon-carbide-based photonic crystal nanocavity

We demonstrate second-harmonic generation (SHG) in a silicon-carbide (SiC)-based heterostructure photonic crystal nanocavity by using a pulsed laser. We observe SHG light radiated from the SiC nanocavity and estimate the conversion efficiency in the cavity to be 2.59×10(-5) (=0.15  W(-1)) at an average input power of 0.17 mW. The near-field patterns and polarization characteristics of the SHG light are investigated experimentally and theoretically, and the results are in qualitatively good agreement.