Photonic crystals and their applications to efficient light emitters

Abstract

When combined with high index contrast slabs in which light can be efficiently guided, microfabricated two-dimensional photonic bandgap mirrors provide us with the geometries needed to confine and concentrate light into extremely small volumes and to obtain very high field intensities. Fabrication of optical structures has now evolved to a precision which allows us to control light within such etched nanostructures. Sub-wavelength nano-optic cavities can be used for efficient and flexible control over both emission wavelength and frequency, and nanofabricated optical waveguides can be used for efficient coupling of light between devices. The reduction of the size of optical components leads to their integration in large numbers and the possibility to combine different functionalities on a single chip. We show uses of such crystals in functional nonlinear optical devices, such as lasers, modulators, add/drop filters, polarizers and detectors.