Silicon quantum dots in photonic microstructures

光学微腔是一种微小的物理结构，可以限制可见光形式的辐射。当光的光子被强烈地限制在空间中时，会发生一些令人惊讶的量子效应，这些现象可以被用来以令人难以置信的灵敏度来调整辐射的发射和传播。微腔在超小型激光器、高质量滤光片和开关、微机械振荡器、生物和化学传感器以及量子计算设备方面显示出巨大的发展潜力。与此同时，国际上正在大力发展用于光子应用的硅纳米结构。特别是发光硅量子点（QDs）正在探索各种应用，从光伏到低毒性生物标记，照明和显示，以及光学信息和通信技术。硅量子点激光器的发展可能在许多这些领域产生深远的影响。实现这些应用的最有希望的途径之一是将来自硅量子点的光耦合到高质量的光学微腔中，从而利用腔共振来增强和控制硅量子点的发光。在这项工作中，我们将使用我们的新合成方法来演示量子-腔耦合，最终旨在开发硅基生物传感器和发光器件。

Optical microcavities are tiny physical structures that can confine radiation in the form of visible light. Several surprising quantum effects occur when photons of light are strongly confined in space, and these phenomena can be used to tailor the emission and propagation of radiation with incredible sensitivity. Microcavities show great potential for the development of ultra-small lasers, high-quality optical filters and switches, micromechanical oscillators, biological and chemical sensors, and quantum computational devices. At the same time, there is a major international effort toward the development of silicon nanostructures for photonic applications. Light-emitting silicon quantum dots (QDs) in particular are being explored in a variety of applications, ranging from photovoltaics to low-toxicity biological markers, lighting and displays, and optical information and communications technologies. The development of a silicon QD laser could have a profound impact in many of these areas. One of the most promising avenues toward achieving these applications is to couple the light from silicon QDs into high quality optical microcavities, thereby utilizing the cavity resonances to enhance and control the Si-QD luminescence. In this work, we will use our new synthesis methods to demonstrate QD-cavity coupling, ultimately aiming toward the development of silicon-based biosensors and light emitting devices.