Abstract
The self-rolling of micro-structured membranes via the stress-engineering method opens new ways to create 3D photonic micro-objects with original designs and optical properties. This article validates this approach by producing 3D hollow micro-resonators based on rolled-up 2D photonic crystal membrane mirrors, capable of trapping light in 3D and in air. We fabricated the 3D tubular microresonators with 10 μm–20 μm diameters by rolling photonic crystal membranes using stress-engineering technique on the prestressed InGaP/InP bilayer. We also added a design feature to lift the microtubes vertically and facilitate optical measurements, but also to attach the structures to the substrate. The dispersion of the planar 2D photonic crystal membrane was optimized to exhibit high reflectivity (>95%) at normal incidence over a large spectral band (100 nm) in the near-infrared domain (1.5 μm–1.6 μm). The cylindrical cavity model and numerical simulations predicted the presence of quasi-pure radial cavity modes with a strong concentration of light over nearly 3% of the photonic microtubes’ cross section. We demonstrated experimentally the presence of those modes through scanning near-field optical microscopy measurements. Using a bowtie nanoantenna, we selectively detected and mapped transverse electric modes in the hollow core of photonic microtubes. Spatially resolved cartographies allowed for the identification of the modes in good agreement with theoretical predictions. This work brings theoretical and experimental proof of concept of light cages based on rolled-up photonic crystal membranes. It also opens the path to the realization of original photonic microstructures as combinations of a specific photonic crystal design and a targeted 3D form.
Highlights
Since the pioneer works of Prinz,1,2 nanofabrication techniques based on self-rolling of pre-stressed membranes have been developed in a thriving way toward the production of 3D microstructures with unconventional geometries such as tubes,3 coils,4 or even Origami-based nano-objects,5–9 accessible with a large range of materials
This work has brought the proof of concept of photon cages based on rolled-up 2D photonic crystal membrane (PCM) mirrors in the near-infrared domain
Matching analytical and Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) computations confirmed that the cages so formed behave as cylindrical resonators with perfectly reflecting membrane walls
Summary
Scitation.org/journal/app the combination between the variety of optical properties available with PCM and 3D rolled-up designs offers new strategies for the management of light. The reflecting walls allow to trap efficiently the light in the hollow core of the cavity, in air or in a low index medium It optimizes the overlap between the localized electromagnetic field and a surrounding medium, a keystone in sensing operations. We validate the approach with the demonstration of the presence of optical cylindrical cavity modes in air Those results open new horizons for the creation of original 3D photonic micro-objects based on other combinations of 2D PCM designs and properties and 3D targeted forms. Electric field intensity maps of the modes supported by the photonic microtubes and obtained after SNOM scans are discussed Those results bring experimental evidence of the existence of cylindrical cavity modes in the rolled-up PCM in agreement with spectral and spatial distributions of the modes predicted by analytic and numerical computations
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