Senior Visiting Fellowship: Photonic Crystal Research

光子晶体是一种晶格常数在光波长量级的周期性结构。这种周期性导致了光子能带和带隙的形成，并应用于控制光的传播和开关。在故意引入缺陷的结构中，可以将光限制在小体积内，从而也可以控制光子和材料激发之间的相互作用。这项提议要求提供资金，支持一位光子结构领域的世界专家访问谢菲尔德，与谢菲尔德的光子学小组开展合作研究，为期三个月的访问奖学金。预计所要求的访问将使小体积光子结构的激发技术取得进展，并对小体积光发射器的发射机制物理有新的见解。特别是，将寻找在具有单限制光子态的半导体纳米结构中单电子激发(激子)之间强耦合的证据。一旦实现了这一点，将寻找单激子单光子水平上的非线性行为的证据，为极其敏感的开关奠定基础，同时也为各种量子光学现象的入门水平，包括少数光子激光和单光子相位门奠定基础。

Photonic crystals are periodic structures with lattice constant on the order of the wavelength of light. The periodicity leads to the formation of bands and band gaps for photons, with applications in the control of the propagation and switching of light. In structures with deliberately introduced defects confinement of light in small volumes is enabled, resulting also in the control of interactions between photons and material excitations. This proposal requests funds to support a three month visiting fellowship for a world expert in the field of photonic structures to visit Sheffield to carry out collaborative research with the photonics group at Sheffield. It is expected that the requested visit will enable the achievement of advances in excitation techniques of small volume photonic structures, and new insight to be gained into the physics of emission mechanisms in small volume light emitters. In particular evidence for strong coupling between single electronic excitations (excitons) in semiconductor nanostructures with single confined photon states will be sought. Once this is achieved evidence for non-linear behaviour at the single exciton single photon level will be sought, the basis for extremely sensitive switches, and at the same time the entry level for a variety of quantum optical phenomena including few photon lasing, and single photon phase gates.