Collaborative Research: Laser Treated Sol-Gel Glass for Ultra-High-Quality Photonic Devices

技术支持：该项目由电子和光子材料（Electronic and Photonic Materials，EMPT）和陶瓷（Ceramics，CER）计划资助，旨在研究激光增强，流动和蒸发诱导自组装（FEISA）方法，以合成用于硅上超高质量光子器件的溶胶-凝胶材料和环形微谐振器。该研究结合了光子学、复杂流体动力学和溶胶-凝胶合成的实验和理论活动，以（a）开发激光增强的溶胶-凝胶-FEISA玻璃作为新材料;（B）研究各种溶胶-凝胶-FEISA玻璃谐振器中的光增益产生;（c）通过使用（a）中制造的材料探测和表征超高质量微谐振器的光学功能。本研究以微谐振腔为基准系统，探讨光学增益增强现象，如非线性光学、激光和等离子体。该研究预计将影响新型光子材料的设计和合成，这些材料能够在低光水平下为非线性光学和硅晶片上的超低阈值微激光器产生光学增益，其发射覆盖从紫外到近红外的宽光谱窗口。这是一个合作研究项目，包括华盛顿大学和华盛顿大学的科学家与互补的专业知识。非技术性：该项目解决了材料和光学科学领域的基础研究问题，具有高度的技术相关性。该项目的成功可能会导致在硅晶片上实现高性能光子器件的路线。通过该项目，博士。本科生在多学科环境中接受培训，包括光子学，材料科学，纳米制造和应用物理学。该项目的发现将通过在科学期刊上发表以及在项目网页上的维基页面和视频进行传播，以供教育之用。

Technical: This project, funded by the Electronic and Photonic Materials (EPM) and Ceramics (CER) Programs, is to investigate a laser enhanced, flow and evaporation-induced self-assembly (FEISA) approach to synthesize sol-gel materials and ring-shape micro-resonators for ultra-high-quality photonic devices on silicon. The research combines experimental and theoretical activities in photonics, complex fluids dynamics, and sol-gel synthesis to (a) develop the laser-enhanced, sol-gel-FEISA glass as a novel material; (b) study the optical gain generation in various sol-gel-FEISA glass resonators; and (c) probe and characterize the optical functions of ultra-high-quality micro-resonators by using the materials fabricated in (a). The research focuses on micro-resonators as a benchmark system and investigates optical gain enhanced phenomena, such as nonlinear optics, lasing and plasmonics. The research is expected to impact the design and synthesis of novel photonic materials capable of generating optical gain for nonlinear optics at low light level and ultra-low-threshold microlasers on a silicon wafer with emission covering a wide spectral window from ultraviolet to near infrared. This is a collaborative research project that includes scientists at the Washington University and University of Washington with complementary expertise.Non-technical: The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials and optical sciences with high technological relevance. The success of the project can lead to a route to achieve high-performance photonic devices on a silicon wafer. Through the project, Ph. D. and undergraduate students are trained in a multi-disciplinary environment that includes photonics, materials science, nano-fabrication, and applied physics. The discoveries from this project will be disseminated through publication in scientific journals, as well as wiki pages and videos on the project webpage for education purpose.