Photonic Micro-/Nano-Structures: Design, Properties, and Applications

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Photonic micro-/nano-structures are the key elements in many photonic components and systems. As a smaller footprint is required along with enhanced functionalities for their new applications to emerge, design, fabrication and properties of photonic micro-/nano-structures are crucial in the realization of many technological breakthroughs, which is dependent on the understanding of the interactions between light and photonic materials at subwavelength scales. It is especially important to reveal the underlying physics, which is the foundation for their applications in optoelectronic devices, environmental monitoring, and biomedical diagnostics. In this study, we propose to investigate the design, fabrication and properties of photonic micro-/nano-structures with near-field optical technique, i.e., a laser coupled near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM/SNOM), by taking advantage of its superior resolution beyond diffraction limit. We will pioneer the try to develop a new nanofabrication technique, i.e., NSOM enabled laser nanofabrication, to explore the physics associated with the photonic micro-/nano-structures in transparent dielectric materials and organic thin films. The study will focus on the following areas: (1) Development of a laser coupled NSOM system, in particular with an ultrafast laser, to achieve an optical measurement with ultrafast spectral resolution and nanoscale spatial resolution. (2) Novel optical properties of micro-/nano-structures revealed by femtosecond laser and near-field optics, including nonlinear optical effects such as mutiphoton absorption and second-/third-order nonlinearity of the functional materials adopted in this study. (3) Creation of photonic nanostructures with NSOM and the underlying mechanisms of nanostructure formation. (4) Photonic micro-/nano-structures in optical fibres, including manipulation of photonic crystal fibres with NSOM at nanoscale and new phenomena from the photonic crystal fibres infiltrated with functional materials, such as liquid crystals and nanoparticles. The knowledge acquired from this research will have potential applications in light emission, optical sensing, signal processing, telecommunication and biomedical science, and benefit Canadian industries in these fields.