CAREER: Integrated All-Optical WDM Devices Using Photonic Crystals

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0239355AdibiThe ever-increasing need for reliable high-speed information access is a global need in today's world. Many people's lives would be improved by easy and fast access of information through the internet. Providing low-cost and fast information access for more people all over the world has great global impact on education and quality of life through programs like distant learning. The most promising technology for achieving this goal is wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) in optical communications. Most fiber optic systems deployed today are constructed from rather large discrete components, requiring many fiber-coupling connections that are inherently expensive, large and introduce losses. So far, it has been difficult to miniaturize devices for coupling, sorting, and multiplexing of light. It is expected that integrated chip-scale WDM devices can provide lower weight, more reliability, smaller size and less sensitivity to electromagnetic interference. It further eliminates the need for labor-intensive alignment of discrete optical devices. To implement integrated chip-scale WDM modules, there is an urgent need to integrate discrete devices into a unified platform. In this research the PI seeks to use photonic crystals (PCs) as such a platform. The possibility of completely designing electromagnetic modes in photonic crystals devices makes them the excellent candidates for designing integrated WDM devices. Furthermore, the existence of the photonic bandgap eliminates long tails of evanescent fields that usually cause crosstalk between WDM channels in normal slab waveguides. In this proposal he uses PC waveguides, PC cavities, and PC superprisms to perform the three major functionalities requires in WDM, i.e., guiding, filtering, and multiplexing/demultiplexing. Currently these PC devices are not optimized. There is no systematic method for designing these devices. He will develop these systematic methods in PC devices by optimally designing and controlling their electromagnetic modes. Furthermore, I will develop techniques required for optimal coupling of these devices to integrate them in the form of WDM devices. His research includes both theoretical and experimental investigation of PC structures. The major research tasks are summarized below. Although aimed at a single target, each component of the effort provides considerable understanding of photonic crystal structures that are valuable in a variety of other applications. 1) The development of fast and efficient three-dimensional analysis tools which will allow us to design and optimize specific linear and nonlinear optical properties of the photonic crystals. 2) The development of a systematic method for dispersion engineering in photonic crystal devices, especially superprisms, waveguides, and cavities using the simulation tool developed in part 1. 3) Optimization of coupling between discrete photonic crystal devices in order to integrate them to perform WDM functionalities The proposed research has considerable impact both at the basic science level and at the application level. It provides a complete understanding of PC waveguides, cavities, and superprisms as well as a systematic method to design these devices. At the application level, it can have a global impact by realizing chip-scale integrated WDM. The type of devices developed in this research can be used in other information processing applications, especially in biosensors. Combined with the small size and perforated structure of photonic crystals, these devices can be used in very small biosensors that and will enable in vivo sensors, nanosensors to swallow, spectrometers on a needle, etc. On the education side, this CAREER plan provides an excellent educational benefit for students. The ability to analyze, model and optimize PC structures as well as hands-on lab work in fabrication and characterization of actual WDM devices allow students to obtain experience in modeling, fabrication, and measurement techniques. Three graduate and several undergraduate students will be trained this way to help accommodate the huge demand in industry for experts in nanotechnology and optical engineering. Providing K-12 and minority students with the opportunity of learning some basics of optical systems as well as involving teachers (with help from NSF's RET program) are other aspects of this CAREER plan. He also plan to develop a graduate level course entitled Introduction to photonic crystal devices, and to add some material on state-of-the-art WDM to the existing graduate level course, Fiber Optics networks, that has not been taught for a few years. He will also improve the undergraduate course, Lasers and Applications. The PI will also write one book on Photonic Crystal Optical Waveguides.