NER: Flexible Photonic Crystals - A New Pathway to Tunability

提出了一项探索性的研究和教育计划，以开发和展示基于柔性光子晶体(PC)的新型动态可调纳米光子器件概念。柔性PC由高折射率介质材料的周期性阵列和低折射率柔性聚合物组成。可调谐是通过微机械驱动器施加机械力来实现的，这会导致晶体结构和随后的光子能带结构的变化。将涉及的基础科学和工程是(1)通过广泛的数值模拟来开发新型可调光子晶体器件，(2)利用光刻技术制造这种可调纳米光子器件，以及(3)通过结构和光学表征技术来综合器件表征。该计划具有很高的探索性，因为据我们所知，它代表着将纳米光子学和纳米/微电子机械系统(NEMS/MEMS)技术这两个传统上互不相关的领域结合起来的首次尝试，为实现纳米光子器件的可调谐提供了一条全新的途径。该计划将为研究生提供一个极好的研究机会。还建议在此研究项目的基础上开展专题讲座，既可用于科罗拉多大学博尔德分校(UCB)和德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校现有的和新开发的研究生课程。它将对UCB教员正在进行的努力做出重大贡献，以建立一个专注于纳米光子学的教育项目。它还将为UCB的NSF-IGERT光学科学和工程计划做出贡献。拟议中的计划对光电子和电信公司高度集中的科罗拉多州和德克萨斯州具有额外的重要性。这项提议旨在通过开发具有高商业潜力的新的纳米光子器件概念并通过提供训练有素的工程师来支持地方和国家的光电子/微电子行业。此外，研究成果将通过传统和非传统方式广泛传播，如大学网站、国家科学基金会数字图书馆和光盘。

It is proposed to conduct an exploratory research and education program to develop and demonstrate new dynamically tunable nano-photonic device concept based on flexible photonic crystals (PCs). The flexible PC is comprised of a periodic array of high index dielectric material and a low index flexible polymer. The tunability is achieved by applying mechanical force by a micromachined actuator, which induces changes in the crystal structure and subsequently in the photonic band structure. The fundamental science and engineering that will be addressed are (1) development of novel tunable photonic crystal device design by extensive numerical simulations, (2) fabrication of such tunable nano-photonic devices using lithography techniques and (3) comprehensive device characterization by both structural and optical characterization techniques. The proposed program is highly exploratory as it represents the first attempt, to our knowledge, to combine two traditionally unrelated fields, namely, nano-photonics and nano-/micro-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS/MEMS) technology, providing a completely new pathway to achieve tunability in nano-photonic devices.This program will provide an excellent research opportunity for graduate students. It is also proposed to develop special topic lectures based on this research project that can be used for both existing and newly developed graduate courses at both University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) and University of Texas at Dallas. It will significantly contribute to the on-going effort by the UCB faculty to build a focused educational program on nano-photonics. It will also contribute to the NSF-IGERT program on optical science and engineering at UCB. The proposed program has an added importance to the states of Colorado and Texas where high concentrations of photonics and telecommunication companies are located. This proposal is intended to support the photonics/microelectronics industry, both local and national, by developing new nano-photonic device concepts with high commercial potential and also by supplying well-trained engineers. Also, the research results will be broadly disseminated by both conventional and unconventional means such as the university websites, NSF digital library and CD-ROMs.