NER: Design and Study of non-Classical Optical Phenomena in Self-Assembled Nanophotonics

本研究的目的是通过将纳米光子源与专门设计的纳米光子结构相结合，在实验上实现和研究新的非经典光学现象。特别是，拟议的工作努力调查的光子带结构晶体的自发辐射的效果。该方法是基于激活高品质的三维二氧化钛反蛋白石光子晶体与nanocomial特定的功能基团的分子连接器使用nanocomial发射器。拟议的研究的核心是这样的纳米发射极激活的光子晶体的光学特性的系统调查，利用军火库的微观光谱技术，包括偏振相关和角度分辨光子动力学和统计测量。该提案的定义目标是获得对光子晶体/纳米发射器耦合的详细见解，用于自发辐射的非经典操纵，并实现新颖的光学现象，如无腔光子带边激光和稳定的光学量子比特的创建。如果成功，拟议的工作将导致信息技术的突破，从而产生重大的经济和社会影响。基于超快光子的信息处理是未来技术的核心，因此可以预期将深刻影响我们更快更好的社会。此外，该提案的多学科性质也是本科生和研究生的优秀研究领域，他们将在该项目的跨学科方面接受培训，包括激光光谱学，电子和光学显微镜以及材料化学。为进一步扩大影响，将特别努力征聘少数民族和女学生/受训人员。

The object of this research is to experimentally realize and study novel non-classical optical phenomena through the combination of nanoscale photon sources with specifically engineered nanophotonic structures. In particular, the proposed work strives to investigate the effect of photonic band structure crystals on spontaneous emission. The approach is based on activating high-quality 3-dimensional titania inverse opal photonic crystals with nanocrystal emitters using molecular linkers with nanocrystal-specific functional groups. The core of the proposed research is a systematic investigation of the optical properties of such nanoemitter-activated photonic crystals, utilizing an arsenal of micro-spectroscopy techniques including polarization-dependent and angle-resolved photon dynamics and statistics measurements. The defining goals of this proposal are to obtain detailed insights into photonic crystal/nanoemitter coupling for non-classical manipulation of spontaneous emission and to realize novel optical phenomena such as cavity-less photonic band-edge lasing and the creation of stable optical qubits. If successful, the proposed work should lead to breakthroughs in information technology and thus should have significant economic and social impacts. Ultra-fast photon-based information processing lies in the heart of future technologies and therefore can be expected to deeply impact our faster-is-better society. In addition, the multidisciplinary nature of this proposal is also an excellent research area for undergraduate and graduate students, who will be trained in the interdisciplinary aspects of this project, including laser spectroscopy, electron and optical microscopy, and materials chemistry. To further broaden the impact, special efforts will be focused towards the recruitment of minority and female students/trainees.