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Fabrication And Characterization Of Photonic Crystal Slow Light Waveguides And Cavities
Published on: November 30, 2012
Gallium nitride based logpile photonic crystals
Ganapathi Subramania1, Qiming Li, Yun-Ju Lee
1Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, United States. gssubra@sandia.gov
Nano Letters
|October 6, 2011
Summary
Researchers created a novel gallium nitride (GaN) three-dimensional photonic crystal (3DPC) with a visible light band gap. This GaN 3DPC structure enables enhanced control over light for optoelectronic devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Optoelectronics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Photonic crystals offer control over light propagation.
- Gallium nitride (GaN) is a key material for optoelectronic devices.
- Achieving photonic band gaps in the visible spectrum is challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate a gallium nitride (GaN) based three-dimensional photonic crystal (3DPC).
- To achieve a photonic band gap in the visible light region using GaN nanorods.
- To investigate the optical properties and potential for defect engineering in the GaN 3DPC.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication using a layer-by-layer template technique.
- Growth via selective metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).
- Characterization of optical reflectance and transmission properties.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a nine-layer logpile GaN 3DPC with nanorods (~100 nm).
- Observed a photonic band gap with strong optical reflectance between 380-500 nm.
- Introduced a line-defect cavity, showing a localized transmission mode (Q-factor 25-30).
Conclusions:
- Successful realization of a group III nitride 3DPC with visible band gap.
- Uniform GaN 3DPC structures pave the way for optoelectronic device advancements.
- Enables precise control of the electromagnetic environment for GaN-based devices.
