Degenerate Bandgaps in Magneto-Photonic Crystals and Magneto-Photonic Crystal Biochemical Sensors

“这项奖励是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。”目的本研究将寻求通过实验证明pi最近预测的新型磁可调谐光学带隙的存在。本项目将在磁性石榴石薄膜中设计、制造和表征基于这种效应的功能光子晶体结构。将在一维和二维磁光光子晶体中进行可控光子带隙的理论和实验研究，并将基于这一新效应制造和表征一种新型的高灵敏度片上生化传感器。该项目的智力优势在于研究双折射磁光光子晶体中由局部光学正常模式之间的耦合引起的新型磁可调谐光学带隙。本文将从理论上和实验上研究磁光子晶体对折射率变化的高敏感极化响应，并将其应用于生物传感器的开发。所提出的光学生物传感器的独特之处在于它依赖于偏振状态的变化作为其转导信号，其中存在极其灵敏和成熟的检测技术，如椭偏仪。更广泛的影响生物传感器在环境监测、医疗保健和国土安全方面有着广泛的应用。广泛适用于有毒和无毒物质检测的光学生物传感技术取得了进展，与现有的最先进的无标签传感技术兼容，并且可能具有更好的灵敏度。该项目将通过与密歇根理工大学的暑期青年项目和工程项目中的女性合作，让高中女性和美国原住民学生参与其中。拟议的活动还将寻求与工业界建立伙伴关系，探索磁光子晶体的技术应用。已经开始与集成光子公司接触，开发光学生物传感器。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."ObjectivesThis study will seek to demonstrate experimentally the existence of new types of magnetically tunable optical band gaps recently predicted by the PIs. The project will design, fabricate and characterize functional photonic crystal structures based on this effect in magnetic garnet films. It will conduct a theoretical and experimental study of controllable photonic band gaps in one- and two-dimensional magneto-optic photonic crystals, and will fabricate and characterize a new type of highly sensitive on-chip biochemical sensor based on this new effect.Intellectual MeritThe project's intellectual merit resides in the investigation of novel magnetically tunable optical band gaps resulting from the coupling between local optical normal modes in birefringent magneto-optic photonic crystals. A recently proposed photonic-state coupling mechanism by the PIs for highly sensitive polarization response to refractive index changes in these magneto-photonic crystals will be studied theoretically and experimentally and applied to biosensor development. The proposed optical biosensor is unique in that it relies on changes in polarization state as its transduction signal, where extremely sensitive and mature detection techniques such as ellipsometry exist.Broader ImpactBiosensors have vast applications to environmental monitoring, healthcare and homeland security. An advance in optical bio-sensing broadly applicable to toxic and non-toxic substance detection is proposed with compatible and potentially better sensitivity to the most advanced tag-free sensing techniques available. This project will involve participation of high school women and Native American students by partnering with Michigan Tech's Summer Youth Program and its Women in Engineering Program. The proposed activity will also seek to develop partnerships with industry to explore technological applications of magneto-photonic crystals. Contacts have already been initiated with Integrated Photonics, Inc. for the development of optical biosensors.