CAREER: Multiscale Design of the Coupled Optomechanical Properties of Silicon Nanowires

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Photonics components are estimated to enable nearly $100 billion in products for industries such as optoelectronic, medical, telecommunications and many others. As the size of photonic devices approaches the nanoscale, a critical challenge facing industry is controllable light emission from silicon-based nanostructures such as nanowires. For nanophotonics to truly become a viable industry, engineers must be able to, as they can with bulk semiconductors, controllably tune the bandgap in nanowires using strain and deformation to design and engineer their light emitting properties. Therefore, the objective of this CAREER proposal is to gain fundamental knowledge on how the light emission characteristics of silicon nanowires can be predictably tailored by controlling the state of strain due to surface stresses and applied deformation. These insights will be garnered through development of novel multiscale, coupled physics computational tools that coherently merge mechanics and optics principles for the optomechanical design of silicon nanowire-based nanophotonic devices.If successful, the proposed research will: (1) Enable the design of multifunctional silicon nanowire-based nanophotonic devices whose light emission characteristics can be controllably modified by the imposition of mechanical deformation. (2) Enable systematic, real-time reconfigurability of silicon nanophotonic systems to correct optical emission variations due to external disturbances. (3) Result in the involvement of underrepresented minorities in the nanoengineering research and education process through local education and outreach activities. (4) Train future nanoengineers in simulation-based nanoengineering design by the integration of the proposed research into the curriculum.