Focus on Nanophotonics

Abstract

Micro- and nano-optics and optolectronics penetrate all facets of our lives. They become emblers, multipliers and catalysts for other scientific and technological fields. In photonics and nanophotonics, the links between basic science and applications are extremely strong. It is simply inconceivable to realize an operational photonic device without a deep understanding of the physics involved. Combination of this fundamental research with nanotechnology provides a key to novel solutions for communications, new materials and devices, life science and security. Many high-power or ultra-short-pulse light sources, especially diode lasers and new fibre lasers, rely on sub-wavelength nanophotonic solutions, which allow for close control of all properties of light. Though photons in a crystal do not have exact analogy to electrons in heterostructures, for example, concepts of the Fermi level and equilibrium carrier concentration are not extensible to the photonic heterostructures, there exist many characteristics similar to photons and charge carriers in a periodic material structure. In analogy to the electronic bands and bandgaps, photons exihibit energy bands and bandgaps in a photonic crystal having a periodically varying refractive index. Dielectric and metallic sub-wavlength structures serve as effective media, which determine polarization, propagation, diffraction, speed and nonlinear features of light in a manner not found in nature.Based on the most recent progress in nanophotonics, controlling light by way of photonic crystals, plasmonics, and left-handed (meta-) materials is no more just an exciting theoretical approach, but real practice. It is expected that optical metamaterials, when combined appropriately with light emitters, will make optics in a non-distant future compatible with an integrated system technology, supporting the long-sought development of fully integrated optical cicuits comparable to the development of micro- and nanoelectronics.This focus issue in New Journal of Physics serves as a current overview of state-of-the-art photonic approaches and related issues, written by leading-edge scientists in the field of photonics. The below list of articles represent the first contributions to the collection and further additions will appear soon.The articles below represent the first contributions and further additions will appear.Focus on Nanophotonics ContentsUltra-high-reflectivity photonic-bandgap mirrors in a ridge SOI waveguide P Velha, J C Rodier, P Lalanne, J P Hugonin, D Peyrade, E Picard, T Charvolin and E HadjiPolarization conversion in resonant magneto-optic gratings Benfeng Bai, Jani Tervo and Jari TurunenThe effect of disorder on the local density of states in two-dimensional quasi-periodic photonic crystals C Rockstuhl and F LedererNonlinear photonic crystal fibres: pushing the zero-dispersion towards the visible Kunimasa Saitoh, Masanori Koshiba and Niels Asger MortensenPhotonic crystal and quantum dot technologies for all-optical switch and logic device Kiyoshi Asakawa, Yoshimasa Sugimoto, Yoshinori Watanabe, Nobuhiko Ozaki, Akio Mizutani, Yoshiaki Takata, Yoshinori Kitagawa, Hiroshi Ishikawa, Naoki Ikeda, Koichi Awazu, Xiaomin Wang, Akira Watanabe, Shigeru Nakamura, Shunsuke Ohkouchi, Kuon Inoue, Martin Kristensen, Ole Sigmund, Peter Ingo Borel and Roel BaetsPhysical origin of the small modal volume of ultra-high-Q photonic double-heterostructure nanocavities Bong-Shik Song, Takashi Asano and Susumu NodaDispersion properties of photonic crystal waveguides with a low in-plane index contrast M Augustin, R Iliew, C Etrich, F Setzpfandt, H-J Fuchs, E-B Kley, S Nolte, T Pertsch, F Lederer and A TünnermannPhotonic crystal and photonic wire nano-photonics based on silicon-on-insulator Richard De La Rue, Harold Chong, Marco Gnan, Nigel Johnson, Iraklis Ntakis, Pierre Pottier, Marc Sorel, Ahmad Md Zain, Hua Zhang, Edilson Camargo, Chongjun Jin, Mario Armenise and Caterina CiminelliDeep proton writing: a rapid prototyping polymer micro-fabrication tool for micro-optical modules C Debaes, J Van Erps, M Vervaeke, B Volckaerts, H Ottevaere, V Gomez, P Vynck, L Desmet, R Krajewski, Y Ishii, A Hermanne and H ThienpontMarkus Pessa, Optoelectronics Research Centre, Tampere University of Technology, Finland Andreas Tünnermann, Fraunhofer Institute, Friedrich-Schiller University, Germany