FRG: Photonic Quasicrystals and Heterostructures

光子学的目的是捕获、引导、引导、开关和控制光，就像在电子学中操纵电子一样。最终，快速、高效的电路、存储器和处理可能会以光子的方式完成，也就是光学。为了捕捉可见光，需要一个高度对称的、近乎球形的结构，其基本单位的尺寸约为人类头发宽度的1/100。0005毫米，绿光的波长)。最球形的有序对称是二十面体，和足球一样，有12个五折面。本提案旨在发展先进的技术，在这些小长度尺度上制造复杂的二十面体结构。它利用了通过显微镜透镜使用激光束操纵小颗粒的新发展，“激光镊子”，以及聚合物的光化学。这一理论，迄今为止被证明是难以捉摸的如此复杂的结构，将探索分析和计算。此外，项目的一部分是探索寻找具有这种对称性的最佳结构（棒，球体，光滑表面）的问题。从高中到博士后的学生将参与研究，这些研究通常是“桌面”的，涉及从非常基础到数学和物理前沿的基本思想。技术摘要：本课题旨在设计和制造用于捕获和控制光的光子准晶体。这种对光子的控制在技术上和推进基础研究方面都很重要。准晶体是实现完整的三维光子带隙的最佳候选，因为它们的高度旋转对称性。利用最近发展的全息光学捕获技术，可以用光聚合胶体分散体构建具有亚微米特征的复杂三维准晶异质结构。本文提出的研究将解决准晶物理学和软异质结构制造材料科学的基本问题。包括准周期固体光子特性的实验和理论研究，对称在光与物质相互作用中的作用，以及设计优化的数学和计算方法。为了生产有用的设备，先进的工具和技术将被开发用于全息制造、模板引导的三维自组织、选择性和定向胶体键和光聚合。从高中到博士后的学生将参与研究。

Non-Technical Abstract The aim of Photonics is to trap, steer, direct, switch and control light in much the way that electrons are manipulated in electronics. Eventually fast, highly efficient circuits, memories and processing may be done photonically, that is optically. To trap visible light requires a highly symmetric, almost spherical, structure with elementary units with dimensions about 1/100 th the width of a human hair (.0005 mm, the wavelength of green light). The most spherical ordered symmetry is icosahedral, the same as a soccer ball, with 12 five fold faces. This proposal aims at developing the advanced techniques to make a complex icosahedral structure at these small length scales. It makes use of new developments in manipulating small particles using laser beams through a microscope lens, "laser Tweezers", and in photochemistry of polymers. The theory, which has so far proven elusive for such complex structures, will be explored analytically and computationally. Moreover, part of the project is to explore the question of finding the optimal structures (rods, spheres, smooth surfaces) with this symmetry. Students from high school to postdoc will participate in the research which is generally "table-top" and involves fundamental ideas from the very basic to the frontiers of math and physics. Technical AbstractThis proposal is directed toward designing and fabricating photonic quasicrystals for use in trapping and controlling light. Such control of photons is important both technologically and for advancing fundamental research. Quasicrystals are thebest candidates for achieving a complete three-dimensional photonic band gap because of their high degree of rotational symmetry. Complex three-dimensional quasicrystalline heterostructures with sub-micrometer features can be constructed from photopolymerized colloidal dispersions using recently developed holographic optical trapping techniques The proposed research will address basic questions regarding the physics of quasicrystals, and the materials science of soft heterostructure fabrication. Included are experimental and theoretical studies of the photonic properties of quasiperiodic solids, the role of symmetry in the interaction of light and matter, and mathematical and computational methods for design optimization. With an aim toward produce useful devices, advanced tools and techniques will be developed for holographic manufacturing, template-guided three-dimensional self-organization, selective and directional colloidal bonding, and photopolymerization. Students from high school to postdoc will participate in the research.