SC221 Nano-Photonics: Physics and Techniques

Monday, May 5, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Axel Scherer; Caltech, USA

Level: Advanced Beginner (basic understanding of topic is necessary to follow course material)

Course Description
This Short Course will start with an introduction to photonic crystals, photonic crystal nanocavities, and lasers fabricated in thin semiconductor slabs containing quantum wells. The characteristics and applications of ultrasmall lasers will be described for spectroscopy, and the opportunities for optical nanocavities in quantum information processing will be reviewed. This will be followed by a description of the integration opportunities of photonic crystal cavities with vertical cavity surface emitting and microdisk lasers. The attributes of high Q micro-toroid cavities will be compared with ultra-small medium Q microfabricated nanocavities.

The course will also cover CMOS silicon photonics for data communications applications. Moreover, the opportunities of integrating photonics with fluidics in the field of opto-fluidics will be introduced. Finally, a comparison will be made between photonic crystal geometries and conventional high index optics, and surface plasmon optics. Plasmon enhanced light emitters and waveguides will be introduced, and their applications in highly efficient solid state light emitters will be summarized.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

• Introduce photonic crystals, optofluidics and plasmonics.
• Describe ultra-small lasers and their applications.
• Show integrated silicon photonics opportunities.
• Describe spectroscopic systems for biochemical analysis.
• Identify the opportunities of surface plasmon devices.
• Summarize microlasers as optical logic devices.
• Explain the advantages of intimate integration of optics, electronics and fluidics.
• Identify the future challenges of microfabricated photonic systems.

Intended Audience
This course is intended for those interested in the opportunities and problems associated with miniaturizing and integrating optical devices with electronics and fluidics.

Instructor Biography
Axel Scherer is the Bernard A. Neches Professor of Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics and Physics at Caltech. He received his doctorate in 1985, and after working in the Microstructures Research Group at Bellcore, moved to Caltech in 1993. Scherer’s group now works on micro- and nano-fabrication of optical, magnetic and fluidic devices. He has authored and co-authored over 250 publications and holds 50 patents in the field of optoelectronic and microfluidic nanostructures, as well as new nanofabrication techniques. Scherer specializes in, and has built a state-of-the-art laboratory for advanced high-resolution lithography and anisotropic ion etching at Caltech. He has fabricated microcavity lasers, such as vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and photonic crystal lasers. Presently, his group works on microfabrication of microfluidic chips, single-domain nanomagnets, photonic crystal waveguides and lasers, and the development of novel lithography techniques.