Development of three-dimensional photonic-crystal waveguides at optical-communication wavelengths

Abstract

Photonic crystals have a photonic band gap (PBG) in which light propagation and emission is prohibited. In particular, three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals have a complete PBG in all directions, which might allow the complete control of light emission and propagation in devices. Here, we report the first demonstration of light propagation in a 3D photonic-crystal waveguide at optical communication wavelengths. A line defect is introduced into a 3D photonic crystal composed of nine stacked layers, having a complete PBG in the 1.55μm wavelength region. Light incident on the waveguide edge successfully propagates along the line-defect waveguide. The propagation characteristics agree with the calculated photonic band diagram of the structure. The calculated results indicate that lossless propagation becomes possible by increasing the number of layers in the device. These results are an important step toward the realization of multifunctional 3D photonic chips integrated within a small region.

Artificial Defect Engineering in Three‐Dimensional Colloidal Photonic Crystals

“…This interaction results in the formation of allowed and forbidden energy states. For a pure and perfect semiconductor, no electrons are to be cating 3D PhCs is simple and cost effective, creating defects in self-assembled 3D PhCs is not as straightforward as it is in 3D PhCs that have been fabricated using a "top-down" method [9,12,13,37] or the laser direct-writing method. [20,23,25,38] Here, it is necessary to point out that there are two types of defects to be discussed.…”

Fabrication of 3D Photonic Crystals toward Arbitrary Manipulation of Photons in Three Dimensions

“…The direct wafer-bonding technique of semiconductors has been an important basis for the fabrication of 3D photonic crystals. We have successfully demonstrated a variety of wafer-bonding techniques, which include not only the homogeneous bonding of indium phosphide (InP) or gallium arsenide (GaAs) [1,5,8] but also the heterogeneous bonding of InP/GaAs [2,37] or InP/Si [9] for the integration of emitting materials into the 3D photonic crystal. Here, when considering the simplification of the fabrication process and the usage of high-quality materials showing less unintentional optical absorption, crystalline Si is an important candidate as the composite material of 3D photonic crystals.…”

“…In particular, the fabrication of 3D photonic crystals, which show wavelength-scaled 3D periodic variation of the refractive index and possess a complete photonic bandgap, has been intensively investigated [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] because they are expected to enable the arbitrary control of photons with the aid of embedded emitting materials and/or artificially introduced defects as functional photonic components. Thus far, various trial fabrications of such 3D structures toward the manipulation of photons in three dimensions have been performed [3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12]. However, it has been challenging to demonstrate well the effects of 3D photonic crystals, primarily because of the lack of advancements in the fabrication technology necessary for uniform and large-area 3D crystals as well as in the systematic design strategies for the arbitrary 3D control of photons.…”

Superprism effect in all-glass volumetric photonic crystals

“…Mo− dern research focuses mostly on 2D crystals, due primarily to their simplified production methods and geometrical sim− plifications that can be applied in their computational mod− elling. However, there are several works related to 3D PCs [5]. The optical properties of PCs are defined by the lattice type (hexagonal, rectangular), the lattice constant L, the diameter of the inclusions and the material properties of the constituent materials.…”