Q-factor enhancement in a one-dimensional photonic crystal cavity with embedded planar plasmonic metamaterials

Abstract

We report Q-factor enhancement in a one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal (PC) cavity by embedding electromagnetic-induced-transparency (EIT) planar plasmonic metamaterials in the cavity. Microwave experiments show tenfold Q-factor enhancements, confirming the numerical simulations. More importantly, the Q-factor enhancement is mainly due to both the longitudinal and lateral confinements contributed by the 1D PC cavity and the planar EIT metamaterials, respectively. The combined PC-EIT structure with a prominent cavity figure of merit may find new applications in nonlinear optics, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and low-threshold lasers.