Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
11:08
Fabrication And Characterization Of Photonic Crystal Slow Light Waveguides And Cavities
Published on: November 30, 2012
Resonance-enhanced optical forces between coupled photonic crystal slabs
Victor Liu1, Michelle Povinelli, Shanhui Fan
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Optics Express
|December 10, 2009
Summary
Optical forces between photonic crystal slabs exhibit periodic behavior, creating stable and unstable positions. Guided resonances significantly enhance these forces, particularly near dark states, for applications in light-induced pressure.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and optical physics
- Condensed matter physics
Background:
- Coupled photonic crystal slabs exhibit complex optical force interactions.
- Understanding these forces is crucial for designing optical devices and manipulating light.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the behaviors of lateral and normal optical forces in coupled photonic crystal slabs.
- To investigate the role of guided resonances in enhancing optical forces.
- To explore the potential for enhanced light-induced pressure.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of optical forces based on displacement.
- Investigation of force periodicity and equilibrium positions.
- Examination of force enhancement mechanisms via guided resonances, including dark states.
Main Results:
- Optical forces are periodic with displacement, leading to stable and unstable equilibrium points.
- Guided resonances strongly enhance optical forces between the slabs.
- Enhancement is most prominent near dark states and depends on resonance types.
- Light-induced pressure is enhanced over larger areas accessible to free-space beams.
Conclusions:
- Coupled photonic crystal slabs offer a platform for tunable optical forces.
- Guided resonances provide a powerful mechanism for enhancing light-matter interactions.
- The findings have implications for optical trapping, sensing, and nanophotonic device development.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Sound Waves: Resonance
Resonance is produced depending on the boundary conditions imposed on a wave. Resonance can be produced in a string under tension with symmetrical boundary conditions (i.e., has a node at each end). A node is defined as a fixed point where the string does not move. The symmetrical boundary conditions result in some frequencies resonating and producing standing waves, while other frequencies interfere destructively. Sound waves can resonate in a hollow tube, and the frequencies of the sound...
02:58Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
Crystal Field Theory
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
01:28Standing Waves in a Cavity
A household microwave and lasers are examples of standing electromagnetic waves in a cavity. When two conducting metal plates are placed parallel at the nodal planes, it creates a cavity where standing waves are formed. The cavity between the two planes is analogous to a stretched string held at the points x = 0 and x = L. Here, the distance 'L' between the two planes must be an integer multiple of half of the wavelength. The wavelengths that satisfy this condition are given by:
02:16Resonance and Hybrid Structures
According to the theory of resonance, if two or more Lewis structures with the same arrangement of atoms can be written for a molecule, ion, or radical, the actual distribution of electrons is an average of that shown by the various Lewis structures.
Resonance Structures and Resonance Hybrids
The Lewis structure of a nitrite anion (NO2−) may actually be drawn in two different ways, distinguished by the locations of the N–O and N=O bonds.
Resonance Structures and Resonance Hybrids
The Lewis structure of a nitrite anion (NO2−) may actually be drawn in two different ways, distinguished by the locations of the N–O and N=O bonds.
01:27Symmetry Elements in a Crystal
Crystal symmetry operations are isometric transformations that map objects onto indistinguishable copies while preserving distances, angles, and volumes. The simplest symmetry operation is translation, which shifts the entire infinite crystal lattice parallelly by a translation vector.Crystallographic rotations involve rotations by an angle of 2π/n around an axis without changing the positions of points on the axis. It is called the rotational axis of the symmetry, denoted by n. The combination...
02:46Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Tetrahedral Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...