The term photonic crystals appears because of the analogy between electron waves in crystals and the light waves in artificial periodic dielectric structures. During the recent years the investigation of one-, two-and three-dimensional periodic structures has attracted a widespread attention of the world optics community because of great potentiality of such structures in advanced applied optical fields. The interest in periodic structures has been stimulated by the fast development of semiconductor technology that now allows the fabrication of artificial structures, whose period is comparable with the wavelength of light in the visible and infrared ranges.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6354/16969/00781867.pdf

Photonic crystals

Photonic bandgap crystals can reflect light for any direction of propagation in specific wavelength ranges1,2,3. This property, which can be used to confine, manipulate and guide photons, should allow the creation of all-optical integrated circuits. To achieve this goal, conventional semiconductor nanofabrication techniques have been adapted to make photonic crystals4,5,6,7,8,9. A potentially simpler and cheaper approach for creating three-dimensional periodic structures is the natural assembly of colloidal microspheres10,11,12,13,14,15. However, this approach yields irregular, polycrystalline photonic crystals that are difficult to incorporate into a device. More importantly, it leads to many structural defects that can destroy the photonic bandgap16,17. Here we show that by assembling a thin layer of colloidal spheres on a silicon substrate, we can obtain planar, single-crystalline silicon photonic crystals that have defect densities sufficiently low that the bandgap survives. As expected from theory, we observe unity reflectance in two crystalline directions of our photonic crystals around a wavelength of 1.3 micrometres. We also show that additional fabrication steps, intentional doping and patterning, can be performed, so demonstrating the potential for specific device applications.

On-chip natural assembly of silicon photonic bandgap crystals

The ability to pattern materials in three dimensions is critical for several technological applications, including composites, microfluidics, photonics, and tissue engineering. Direct-write assembly allows one to design and rapidly fabricate materials in complex 3D shapes without the need for expensive tooling, dies, or lithographic masks. Here, recent advances in direct ink writing are reviewed with an emphasis on the push towards finer feature sizes. Opportunities and challenges associated with direct ink writing are also highlighted.

/pdf/direct-ink-writing-of-3d-functional-materials-3agrqrwm1s.pdf

Direct ink writing of 3D functional materials

The past decade has witnessed intensive research efforts related to the design and fabrication of photonic crystals1,2. These periodically structured dielectric materials can represent the optical analogue of semiconductor crystals, and provide a novel platform for the realization of integrated photonics. Despite intensive efforts, inexpensive fabrication techniques for large-scale three-dimensional photonic crystals of high enough quality, with photonic bandgaps at near-infrared frequencies, and built-in functional elements for telecommunication applications, have been elusive. Direct laser writing by multiphoton polymerization3 of a photoresist has emerged as a technique for the rapid, cheap and flexible fabrication of nanostructures for photonics. In 1999, so-called layer-by-layer4 or woodpile photonic crystals were fabricated with a fundamental stop band at 3.9 μm wavelength5. In 2002, a corresponding 1.9 μm was achieved6, but the important face-centred-cubic (f.c.c.) symmetry was abandoned. Importantly, fundamental stop bands or photonic bandgaps at telecommunication wavelengths have not been demonstrated. In this letter, we report the fabrication—through direct laser writing—and detailed characterization of high-quality large-scale f.c.c. layer-by-layer structures, with fundamental stop bands ranging from 1.3 to 1.7 μm.

/pdf/direct-laser-writing-of-three-dimensional-photonic-crystal-4vf97ivkpd.pdf

Direct laser writing of three-dimensional photonic-crystal templates for telecommunications

An artificial crystal structure has been fabricated exhibiting a full three-dimensional photonic bandgap effect at optical communication wavelengths. The photonic crystal was constructed by stacking 0.7-micrometer period semiconductor stripes with the accuracy of 30 nanometers by advanced wafer-fusion technique. A bandgap effect of more than 40 decibels (which corresponds to 99.99% reflection) was successfully achieved. The result encourages us to create an ultra-small optical integrated circuit including a three-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide with a sharp bend.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/289/5479/604.full.pdf

Full three-dimensional photonic bandgap crystals at near-infrared wavelengths

The ability to confine and control light in three dimensions would have important implications for quantum optics and quantum-optical devices: the modification of black-body radiation, the localization of light to a fraction of a cubic wavelength, and thus the realization of single-mode light-emitting diodes, are but a few examples1,2,3. Photonic crystals — the optical analogues of electronic crystal — provide a means for achieving these goals. Combinations of metallic and dielectric materials can be used to obtain the required three-dimensional periodic variations in dielectric constant, but dissipation due to free carrier absorption will limit application of such structures at the technologically useful infrared wavelengths4. On the other hand, three-dimensional photonic crystals fabricated in low-loss gallium arsenide show only a weak ‘stop band’ (that is, range of frequencies at which propagation of light is forbidden) at the wavelengths of interest5. Here we report the construction of a three-dimensional infrared photonic crystal on a silicon wafer using relatively standard microelectronics fabrication technology. Our crystal shows a large stop band (10–14.5 μm), strong attenuation of light within this band (∼12 dB per unit cell) and a spectral response uniform to better than 1 per cent over the area of the 6-inch wafer.

A three-dimensional photonic crystal operating at infrared wavelengths

A method is disclosed for fabricating a two- or three-dimensional photonic bandgap structure (also termed a photonic crystal, photonic lattice, or photonic dielectric structure). The method uses microelectronic integrated circuit (IC) processes to fabricate the photonic bandgap structure directly upon a silicon substrate. One or more layers of arrayed elements used to form the structure are deposited and patterned, with chemical-mechanical polishing being used to planarize each layer for uniformity and a precise vertical tolerancing of the layer. The use of chemical-mechanical planarization allows the photonic bandgap structure to be formed over a large area with a layer uniformity of about two-percent. Air-gap photonic bandgap structures can also be formed by removing a spacer material separating the arrayed elements by selective etching. The method is useful for fabricating photonic bandgap structures including Fabry-Perot resonators and optical filters for use at wavelengths in the range of about 0.2-20 μm.

Use of chemical-mechanical polishing for fabricating photonic bandgap structures

This paper presents a method for depositing thin Teflon-like films to eliminate adhesion or suction in released polysilicon microstructures. A commercial plasma reactor is used in direct and remote plasma modes with commercially available trifluoromethane (CHF3) to deposit thin hydrophobic films around and under released microstructures. Hard, uniform, Teflon-like films which penetrate into undercuts beneath structures have been produced. Thus far, surfaces beneath gears as large as 1600 μm diameter with a gap of 2.0 μm are hydrophobic after being exposed to plasma treatment. These Teflon-like coatings have been shown to reduce the coefficient of friction from 1.0 to 0.07.

/pdf/thin-teflon-like-films-for-eliminating-adhesion-in-released-331y4vz47v.pdf

Thin Teflon-like films for eliminating adhesion in released polysilicon microstructures

This paper presents a method for depositing thin Teflon-like films using a commercial plasma reactor to eliminate adhesion or stiction in released polysilicon microstructures. A Lam 384T oxide etch system is used in a remote plasma mode with commercially available trifluoromethane (CHF/sub 3/) to deposit thin hydrophobic films around and under released microstructures. Hard, uniform, Teflon-like films which penetrate into undercuts beneath structures have been produced. Thus far, surfaces beneath gears as large as 1600 micron diameter with a gap of 2.0 microns are hydrophobic after being exposed to plasma treatment. These Teflon-like coatings have been shown to reduce the coefficient of friction from 1.0 to 0.07.

/pdf/thin-teflon-like-films-for-eliminating-adhesion-in-released-b96a70qv8w.pdf

Providing a field emitter with an asymmetrical emitter structure having a very sharp tip in close proximity to its gate One preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an asymmetrical emitter and a gate The emitter having a tip and a side is coupled to a substrate The gate is connected to a step in the substrate The step has a top surface and a side wall that is substantially parallel to the side of the emitter The tip of the emitter is in close proximity to the gate The emitter is at an emitter potential, and the gate is at a gate potential such that with the two potentials at appropriate values, electrons are emitted from the emitter In one embodiment, the gate is separated from the emitter by an oxide layer, and the emitter is etched anisotropically to form its tip and its asymmetrical structure

Bradley K. Smith

Papers

A three-dimensional photonic crystal operating at infrared wavelengths

Use of chemical-mechanical polishing for fabricating photonic bandgap structures

Thin Teflon-like films for eliminating adhesion in released polysilicon microstructures

Thin Teflon-like films for eliminating adhesion in released polysilicon microstructures

Asymmetrical field emitter