Dielectric Cavity Research Articles

A Compact All-Band Spacecraft Antenna with Stable Gain for Multi-Band GNSS Applications

This study presents a compact and stable gain spacecraft antenna that operates in all Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) bands from 1.164 GHz to 1.610 GHz. The proposed antenna structure based on the single-feed crossed bowtie antenna concept consists of four triangular patches excited with a 90° phase difference in between to generate right-hand circular polarization (RHCP), without needing complex feed networks. The radiator part of the antenna is covered by a radome and is also supported by a cylindrical dielectric cavity frame (DCF) to weaken the diffracted waves propagating along the ground plane while increasing vibration resistance. The fabricated antenna provides a return loss better than 10 dB with lower than 3 dB axial ratio and a stable gain around 7.2 ± 0.3 dBic over the entire GNSS bands, as well as a more compact and lightweight structural performance. It is also verified that the structural integrity and functional performance of the fabricated antenna remain consistent despite exposure to an equivalent vibration level in the launch process. The presented all-band spacecraft GNSS antenna is an innovative implementation with space industry insight for multi-band space applications that have application-specific limitations and provides consistent performance, as well as operational safety with the antenna design simplicity.

Increasing Light-Induced Forces with Magnetic Photonic Glasses

In this work, we theoretically and experimentally study the induction of electromagnetic forces in an opal-based magnetic photonic glass, where light normally impinges onto a disordered arrangement of SiO2 spheres by the aggregation of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The working wavelength is 633 nm. Experimental evidence is presented for the force that results from forced oscillations of the photonic structure. Finite-element method simulations and a theoretical model estimate the magnetic force volumetric density value, peak displacement, and velocity of oscillations. The magnetic force is of the order of 56 microN, which is approximately 500-times higher than forces induced in dielectric optomechanical photonic crystal cavities.

Robust consistent single quantum dot strong coupling in plasmonic nanocavities

Strong coupling between a single quantum emitter and an optical cavity (at rate Ω) accesses fundamental quantum optics and provides an essential building block for photonic quantum technologies. However, the minimum mode volume of conventional dielectric cavities restricts their operation to cryogenic temperature for strong coupling. Here we harness surface self-assembly to make deterministic strong coupling at room temperature using CdSe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) in nanoparticle-on-mirror (NPoM) plasmonic nanocavities. We achieve a fabrication yield of ~70% for single QD strong coupling by optimizing their size and nano-assembly. A clear and reliable Rabi splitting is observed both in the scattering of each nanocavity and their photoluminescence, which are however not equal. Integrating these quantum elements with electrical pumping allows demonstration of strong coupling in their electroluminescence. This advance provides a straightforward way to achieve practical quantum devices at room temperature, and opens up exploration of their nonlinear, electrical, and quantum correlation properties.

Does the capacitor analogy model in fracture mechanics of elastic dielectrics constitute an appropriate approximation?

The analytical solution of an elliptic dielectric cavity in an infinite dielectric plate is taken as basis to investigate a Griffith crack problem which is obtained by letting the semi-minor axis tend towards zero. In the course of this, an erroneous conformal mapping, commonly employed in literature and correctly reproducing the electric field only in a part of the physical space, is rectified. Interpreting the elliptic interface as faces of a mechanically opened crack which is exposed to an oblique remote electric field, surface charges and electrostatic tractions are calculated. In contrast to the established capacitor analogy model, approximately yielding electric charge densities and Coulombic tractions from displacements and electric potentials in the undeformed crack configuration, the work at hand provides exact solutions accounting for different implications of the crack curvature and for the inclination of the electric field. Crack weight functions are finally used to calculate stress and electric displacement intensity factors. As turns out, the surface charges of the capacitor analogy represent an excellent substitute for the exact electric boundary conditions within a relevant range of parameters, whereas inaccurate Coulombic tractions in the vicinity of crack tips may lead to a significantly overestimated mode I stress intensity factor.

Spin-vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with by-design-defined birefringence for high-speed modulation.

We propose a new, to the best of our knowledge, type of spin-vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with controlled by design birefringence. To this aim, we utilize the so-called columnar thin films (CTFs) in the VCSEL dielectric distributed Bragg mirror and/or in a second dielectric cavity. We design such CTF-VCSELs with pre-defined birefringence and calculate their polarization-resolved resonant longitudinal modes and the corresponding quantum-well confinement factors and threshold gains. Using the spin-flip VCSEL model, we show that such spin CTF-VCSELs can achieve small-signal modulation response with a 3 dB cutoff frequency of several hundreds of GHz.

Toward Optimum Coupling between Free Electrons and Confined Optical Modes.

Free electrons are excellent tools to probe and manipulate nanoscale optical fields with emerging applications in ultrafast spectromicroscopy and quantum metrology. However, advances in this field are hindered by the small probability associated with the excitation of single optical modes by individual free electrons. Here, we theoretically investigate the scaling properties of the electron-driven excitation probability for a wide variety of optical modes including plasmons in metallic nanostructures and Mie resonances in dielectric cavities, spanning a broad spectral range that extends from the ultraviolet to the infrared region. The highest probabilities for the direct generation of three-dimensionally confined modes are observed at low electron and mode energies in small structures, with order-unity (∼100%) coupling demanding the use of <100 eV electrons interacting with eV polaritons confined down to tens of nanometers in space. Electronic transitions in artificial atoms also emerge as practical systems to realize strong coupling to few-eV free electrons. In contrast, conventional dielectric cavities reach a maximum probability in the few-percent range. In addition, we show that waveguide modes can be generated with higher-than-unity efficiency by phase-matched interaction with grazing electrons, suggesting a practical method to create multiple excitations of a localized optical mode by an individual electron through funneling the so-generated propagating photons into a confining cavity─an alternative approach to direct electron-cavity interaction. Our work provides a roadmap to optimize electron-photon coupling with potential applications in electron spectromicroscopy as well as nonlinear and quantum optics at the nanoscale.

Enhancement of silicon vacancy fluorescence intensity in silicon carbide using a dielectric cavity.

Over the past decades, spin qubits in silicon carbide (SiC) have emerged as promising platforms for a wide range of quantum technologies. The fluorescence intensity holds significant importance in the performance of quantum photonics, quantum information process, and sensitivity of quantum sensing. In this work, a dual-layer Au/SiO2 dielectric cavity is employed to enhance the fluorescence intensity of a shallow silicon vacancy ensemble in 4H-SiC. Experimental results demonstrate an effective fourfold augmentation in fluorescence counts at saturating laser power, corroborating our theoretical predictions. Based on this, we further investigate the influence of dielectric cavities on the contrast and linewidth of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR). There is a 1.6-fold improvement in magnetic field sensitivity. In spin echo experiments, coherence times remain constant regardless of the thickness of dielectric cavities. These experiments pave the way for broader applications of dielectric cavities in SiC-based quantum technologies.

Highly tunable quasi-bound states in the continuum responses in subwavelength plasmonic-dielectric hybrid nanostructures

Here, we study the quasi-bound states in the continuum (Q-BIC) response in subwavelength hybrid nanostructures consisting of plasmonic antennas and subwavelength dielectric cavities. Among them, the plasmonic antennas are metal nanorods with electric dipole resonances, and the dielectric cavity is a nanodisk with an anapole mode. By reasonably adjusting the phase difference between the two modes, we can excite Q-BIC mode in the hybrid cavity. As the two modes involved in the construction of Q-BIC are on two separate structures, the Q-BIC of this hybrid nanostructure has great adjustability, and the quality factor of resonant mode can be increased several times. Our research enriches the generations of Q-BIC mode in subwavelength cavities, which may help to enhance light-matter interaction.

Relations between near-field enhancements and Purcell factors in hybrid nanostructures of plasmonic antennas and dielectric cavities

Strong near-field enhancements (NFEs) of nanophotonic structures are believed to be closely related to high Purcell factors (FP). Here, we theoretically show that the correlation is partially correct; the extinction cross section (σ) response is also critical in determining FP. The divergence between NFE and FP is especially pronounced in plasmonic-dielectric hybrid systems, where the plasmonic antenna supports dipolar plasmon modes and the dielectric cavity hosts Mie-like resonances. The cavity's enhanced-field environment can boost the antenna's NFEs, but the FP is not increased concurrently due to the larger effective σ that is intrinsic to the FP calculations. Interestingly, the peak FP for the coupled system can be predicted by using the NFE and σ responses. Furthermore, the limits for FP of coupled systems are considered; they are determined by the sum of the FP of a redshifted (or modified, if applicable) antenna and an individual cavity. This contrasts starkly with the behavior of NFE which is closely associated with the multiplicative effects of the NFEs provided by the antenna and the dielectric cavity. The differing behaviors of NFE and FP in hybrid cavities have varied impacts on relevant nanophotonic applications such as fluorescence, Raman scattering and enhanced light-matter interactions.

Strong coupling between colloidal quantum dots and dielectric cavity investigated by both photoluminescence spectrum and reflection spectrum at room temperature

In this study, the angle-resolved photoluminescence spectra and reflection spectra from colloidal quantum dots on SiO2/Si material were investigated at room temperature. The strong coupling between quantum dots and F-P cavity was verified by both the photoluminescence spectral splitting and reflection dispersion. A Rabi splitting was obtained from both angle-resolved photoluminescence spectra and reflection spectra. The Hopfield coefficient of exciton and photon for polariton branches were calculated and analyzed. The relationship between Rabi frequency and excitation power for colloidal quantum dots was also studied. A method was proposed and used to characterize the cavity mode and the reflection dispersion by using open-aperture and close-aperture reflection spectra.

Shaping the Infrared luminescence of Colloidal Nanocrystals Using a Dielectric Microcavity

AbstractAs they have gained maturity, colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) have also expand the spectral range over of which they could be used for photonic and optoelectronic applications. In particular, the infrared use of NCs has become of utmost interest to develop cost‐effective alternatives to current technologies. It is then critical not to let the material dictate the light–matter interaction, which is why the coupling of NCs to photonic cavities has been proposed. For infrared NCs, this approach has first been devoted to the control of absorption with in mind the increase of the signal magnitude for detectors. A Lot of efforts have been focused on the use of metallic metasurfaces. However, these generate significant optical losses and yield low quality factor. Here, this study rather focus on the coupling of infrared NCs to a dielectric mirror cavity. HgTe/CdS core‐shell NCs are used and integrated into a cavity made of aperiodic dielectric mirrors. The effect of the substrate is systematically study on spectral linewidth, carrier dynamic, and emission directivity. The cavity is shown to narrow the PL by a factor 10, while focusing the emission over a 12° angle. Monitoring the power dependence of the emission, this study shows that the cavity leads to 250 K increase in the effective electronic temperature.

Coherent energy transfers between orthogonal modes of a dielectric cavity bridged by a plasmonic antenna

Here, we demonstrate a strategy that two orthogonal modes in a dielectric cavity can efficiently couple with each other through the bridging effect of a plasmonic antenna. In such a dielectric-antenna hybrid system, a plasmonic antenna can coherently interact with both modes of the dielectric cavity, which brings sufficient coherent energy transfers between the two orthogonal modes. Specifically, a broad electromagnetic mode and a narrow whispering gallery mode (WGM) in a subwavelength silicon disk are considered, where they cannot directly interact with each other through near-field couplings. By introducing a plasmonic antenna, coherent energy transfer between the above two modes occurs, which is confirmed by both far-field spectra and near-field distributions. More investigations show that spectral and spatial overlaps between the involved modes can largely affect energy transfer behaviors. Those overlaps are highly dependent on various parameters of the system. The WGM response in the hybrid system can even exceed that of an individual disk. Our proposed strategy can be extended to other similar systems and the modified optical responses can find applications in enhanced light-matter interactions.

Entangled dark state mediated by a dielectric cavity within epsilon-near-zero materials.

Two emitters can be entangled by manipulating them through optical fields within a photonic cavity. However, maintaining entanglement for a long time is challenging due to the decoherence of the entangled qubits, primarily caused by cavity loss and atomic decay. Here, we found the entangled dark state between two emitters mediated by a dielectric cavity within epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, ensuring entanglement maintenance over an extended period. To obtain the entangled dark state, we derived an effective model with degenerate mode modulation. In the dielectric cavities within ENZ materials, the decay rate of emitters can be regarded as 0, which is the key to achieving the entangled dark state. Meanwhile, the dark state immune to cavity loss exists when two emitters are in symmetric positions in the dielectric cavity. Additionally, by adjusting the emitters to specific asymmetric positions, it is possible to achieve transient entanglement with higher concurrence. By overcoming the decoherence of the entangled qubits, this study demonstrates stable, long-term entanglement with ENZ materials, holding significant importance for applications such as nanodevice design for quantum communication and quantum information processing.

Room-temperature strong coupling in a single-photon emitter-metasurface system

Solid state single-photon sources with high brightness and long coherence time are promising qubit candidates for modern quantum technology. To prevent decoherence processes and preserve the integrity of the qubits, decoupling the emitters from their surrounding environment is essential. To this end, interfacing single photon emitters (SPEs) with high-finesse cavities is required, especially in the strong coupling regime, when the interaction between emitters can be mediated by cavity fields. However, achieving strong coupling at elevated temperatures is challenging due to competing incoherent processes. Here, we address this long-standing problem by using a quantum system, which comprises a class of SPEs in hexagonal boron nitride and a dielectric cavity based on bound states in the continuum (BIC). We experimentally demonstrate, at room temperature, strong coupling of the system with a large Rabi splitting of ~4 meV thanks to the combination of the narrow linewidth and large oscillator strength of the emitters and the efficient photon trapping of the BIC cavity. Our findings unveil opportunities to advance the fundamental understanding of quantum dynamical system in strong coupling regime and to realise scalable quantum devices capable of operating at room temperature.

Plasmonic hybridized modes empowered by strong plasmon interaction in the nanograting-dielectric-metal stacked structure

Abstract The coupling between surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and waveguide (WG) modes has been widely investigated by using prism-coupled structures and has demonstrated a large number of interesting physical phenomena. However, these conventional structures mainly rely on the angle-dependent total internal reflection excitation. This is not conducive to their further development due to the large volume and the requirement of oblique incidence. In this paper, we theoretically propose a three-layer nanograting-dielectric-metal (NDM) plasmonic structure. Within this structure, a thickness-dependent plasmonic WG (PWG) mode in the middle dielectric cavity strongly couples with SPPs on the top surface, resulting in two new hybridized PWG-SPPs modes. This hybridization coupling phenomenon is analyzed in detail by using plasmonic hybridization and two coupled oscillator models. Besides, a thorough investigation is conducted on the sensing performance of these two PWG-SPPs hybridized modes. The difference in sensing characteristics between these two hybridized modes can be well explained by their coupling strength variation. This NDM plasmonic nanostructure owns unparalleled advantages in the generation and modulation of a variety of new modes, effectively promoting the development of miniaturized optoelectronic devices.

Tailoring Tamm Plasmon Resonances in Dielectric Nanoporous Photonic Crystals.

The fields of plasmonics and photonic crystals (PCs) have been combined to generate model light-confining Tamm plasmon (TMM) cavities. This approach effectively overcomes the intrinsic limit of diffraction faced by dielectric cavities and mitigates losses associated with the inherent properties of plasmonic materials. In this study, nanoporous anodic alumina PCs, produced by two-step sinusoidal pulse anodization, are used as a model dielectric platform to establish the methodology for tailoring light confinement through TMM resonances. These model dielectric mirrors feature highly organized nanopores and narrow bandwidth photonic stopbands (PSBs) across different positions of the spectrum. Different types of metallic films (gold, silver, and aluminum) were coated on the top of these model dielectric mirrors. By structuring the features of the plasmonic and photonic components of these hybrid structures, the characteristics of TMM resonances were studied to elucidate effective approaches to optimize the light-confining capability of this hybrid TMM model system. Our findings indicate that the coupling of photonic and plasmonic modes is maximized when the PSB of the model dielectric mirror is broad and located within the midvisible region. It was also found that thicker metal films enhance the quality of the confined light. Gas sensing experiments were performed on optimized TMM systems, and their sensitivity was assessed in real time to demonstrate their applicability. Ag films provide superior performance in achieving the highest sensitivity (S = 0.038 ± 0.001 nm ppm-1) based on specific binding interactions between thiol-containing molecules and metal films.

Simultaneous measurement of relative humidity and temperature using EIT-like effect in photonic crystal cavity coupled system integrated with PVA and graphene

In this work, we propose a sensor based on a photonic crystal nanobeam cavity (PCNC) coupled system integrated with Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and graphene, which uses an electromagnetically induced transparency-like (EIT-like) effect for the simultaneous measurement of relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T). The structure consists of a bus waveguide and two types of one-dimensional PCNC supporting the dielectric and air mode resonance, respectively. The RH-sensitive material PVA is used in the dielectric mode cavity to increase the RH sensitivity and anti-interference ability. We demonstrate that the EIT-like transparency window can be actively and flexibly modulated by adjusting the Fermi level of graphene. In addition, the ability of the system to simultaneously detect RH and T is proved by using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) method and the sensor matrix. The RH sensitives for the dielectric and air modes are −542.0 pm/%RH and −258.2 pm/%RH, respectively. The T sensitives for the dielectric and air modes are −14.6 pm/K and 35.4 pm/K, respectively. The sensor achieves a strong anti-interference ability and its footprint is only 12 μm × 2.02 μm. Therefore, our proposed sensor has potential applications in food storage, preservation of museum collections, human health, and biological and chemical experiments.

Resonance states of the three-disk scattering system

For the paradigmatic three-disk scattering system, we confirm a recent conjecture for open chaotic systems, which claims that resonance states are composed of two factors. In particular, we demonstrate that one factor is given by universal exponentially distributed intensity fluctuations. The other factor, supposed to be a classical density depending on the lifetime of the resonance state, is found to be very well described by a classical construction. Furthermore, ray-segment scars, recently observed in dielectric cavities, dominate every resonance state at small wavelengths also in the three-disk scattering system. We introduce a new numerical method for computing resonances, which allows for going much further into the semiclassical limit. As a consequence we are able to confirm the fractal Weyl law over a correspondingly large range.

Degradation of Ta2O5 / SiO2 dielectric cavity mirrors in ultra-high vacuum.

In order for optical cavities to enable strong light-matter interactions for quantum metrology, networking, and scalability in quantum computing systems, their mirrors must have minimal losses. However, high-finesse dielectric cavity mirrors can degrade in ultra-high vacuum (UHV), increasing the challenges of upgrading to cavity-coupled quantum systems. We observe the optical degradation of high-finesse dielectric optical cavity mirrors after high-temperature UHV bake in the form of a substantial increase in surface roughness. We provide an explanation of the degradation through atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), selective wet etching, and optical measurements. We find the degradation is explained by oxygen reduction in Ta2O5 followed by growth of tantalum sub-oxide defects with height to width aspect ratios near ten. We discuss the dependence of mirror loss on surface roughness and finally give recommendations to avoid degradation to allow for quick adoption of cavity-coupled systems.

Designing vibrant and bright transmission colors with multilayer film structures

In this work, we present a multilayer film structure that utilizes optical resonance for preparing extremely efficient and highly saturated red, green, and blue transmittance colors. Based on numerical simulations and analysis, it is demonstrated that the structure produces R, G, and B colors with a purity approximately comparable to that of standard RGB colors and that a rich variety of structural colors can be obtained while maintaining efficient transmission efficiency. In addition, a metallic interlayer is introduced into the transparent dielectric cavity to selectively suppress resonances in the short-wavelength region, thereby improving the purity of the red color. Finally, we investigate the effect of the incidence angle on color purity and transmission efficiency. This study introduces a rapid and efficient method for producing high-quality structural colors, expanding their versatile applications in optics, materials science, and energy fields.