We demonstrate electromagnetically-induced anomalous quantum dynamics of an exciton in a photonic band gap (PBG) - quantum well (QW) hetero-structure. Within the engineered electromagnetic vacuum of the PBG material, the exciton can propagate through the QW by the emission and re-absorption of virtual photons in addition to the conventional electronic hopping mechanism. When the exciton wavevector and recombination energy coincide nearly with a photonic band edge, the exciton kinetic energy is lowered by 1-10meV through coherent radiative hopping. This capture of the exciton by the photonic band edge is accompanied by strong electromagnetic dressing in which the exciton's renormalized effective mass is 4-5 orders of magnitude smaller than in the absence of the PBG environment. This dressed exciton exhibits a long radiative lifetime characteristic of a photon-atom bound state and is robust to phonon-assisted, re-combinative decay. By inheriting properties of the PBG electromagnetic vacuum, the bound electron-hole pair becomes a stable, ultra-mobile quantum excitation. Unlike traditional exciton-polariton modes created by placing a QW in a one-dimensional optical cavity, our PBG-QW excitons exhibit strong coupling to optical modes and retain a long lifetime. This is crucial for unambiguous observation of quantum coherence effects such as Bose-Einstein condensation. We present a model for the equilibrium quantum statistics of a condensate of repulsively interacting bosons in a two-dimensional trap. Particle correlations in the ground state are treated exactly, whereas interactions with excited particles are treated in a generalized Bogoliubov mean-field theory. This leads to a fundamental physical picture for condensation of interacting bosons through an anharmonic oscillator ground state coupled to excited Bogoliubov quasiparticles in which the quantum number statistics of condensate particles emerges self-consistently. Our anharmonic oscillator model for the exciton ground state manifold goes beyond the conceptual framework of traditional Bogoliubov theory. Below the Bose-Einstein condensation temperature, our model exhibits a crossover from particle bunching to Poissonian statistics and finally antibunching as temperature is lowered or as the trapping area is decreased. When applied to Bose condensation of long-lived dressed excitons in a photonic band gap material, our model suggests that this system may serve as a novel tunable source for non-classical states of light.

The atomic layer deposition (ALD) growth of titania thin films was studied for the infiltration of silica photonic crystals. Titania thin films were grown in a custom-built ALD reactor by the alternating pulsing and purging of TiCl4 and water vapor. The conformal nature of ALD growth makes it an ideal candidate for the infiltration of the complex opal structure. Titania is a high refractive index material, which makes it a popular material for use in photonic crystal (PC) applications. Photonic crystals are periodic dielectric structures that forbid the propagation of light in a certain wavelength range. This forbidden range is known as the photonic band gap (PBG). A refractive index contrast of at least 2.8 is required for a complete PBG in an inverted opal structure. Therefore, the rutile structure of titania is more desirable for use in PCs due to its higher index of refraction than the anatase or brookite structure. The growth mechanisms and film properties of the TiO2 thin films were studied. Investigation of the growth mechanisms revealed saturated growth rate conditions for multiple temperature regions. Film characterization techniques included XRD, SEM/EDS, XPS, AFM, reflectivity, and index of refraction measurements. Post growth heat treatment was performed to study the conversion from the as-deposited crystal structure to the rutile structure. After optimization of the deposition process, the infiltration of silica opals for PC applications was attempted. The filling fraction was optimized by increasing the pulse and purge lengths at a deposition temperature of 100oC. Although the silica opals were successfully infiltrated using ALD of TiO2, the long range order of the PC was destroyed after the heat treatment step required to achieve the high index rutile structure.

A rigorous power coupling model for three-core optical waveguides is proposed based on a full-wave vector boundary element method (VBEM). In addition to the influence of the state of the polarization (SOP) of the input light on the coupling behavior of the three-core optical waveguides can be simulated, the polarization dependent loss (PDL) of the three-core optical waveguides can also be investigated by combining the Mueller matrix method into the power coupling model. In this dissertation, the power coupling model is applied to investigate two kinds of power splitters. The first power splitters are constructed of step-index single mode fibers called triangular 3 3 fused tapered couplers. The influence of the SOP of the input light on the coupling behavior of the triangular 3 3 fused tapered couplers and the effect of fabricating parameters of the coupler, fusion degree, and heated length on the PDL of the coupler are investigated in this dissertation. The second kind of power splitters are constructed of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). And, several fundamental coupling properties of three-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with equilateral triangular cores are investigated numerically included coupling length, bandwidth, and polarization dependent loss (PDL). It is found the three-core PCFs are good candidate to be realized as an ultra-compact power splitter. And, for three-core PCFs that chose a proper coupling point can raise the yield and performance stability of the power splitter. In addition to the coupling behavior of the power splitters, two-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) are also studied in this dissertation based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The phase interference phenomenon due to the multiple plane-wave signals as initial conditions of the FDTD method for computing band structure of two-dimensional PCs is studied in this dissertation. It is found some normal modes supposed to exist could be lost if the phase interference is nearly out of phase at eigenfrequency. To overcome this problem, we proposed a new solving procedure based on FDTD algorithm which can avoid mode loss phenomenon and obtain complete normal modes over interested frequency range.

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are divided into two different kinds of fibers. The first one, index-guiding PCF, guides light by total internal reflection between a solid core and a cladding region with multiple air-holes. On the other hand, the second one uses a perfectly periodic structure exhibiting a photonic band-gap (PBG) effect at the operating wavelength to guide light in a low index core-region. A compact 2D-FDTD method based on finite-difference time-domain method is formulated and is effectively applied to analysis PCFs and PBGFs. We study the propagation features of fundamental mode and the fundamental characteristics such as effective index, modal-field diameter and chromatic dispersion in index-guiding PCFs. By optimizing the air-hole diameters and the hole-to-hole spacing of index-guiding PCFs, both the dispersion and the dispersion slope can be controlled in a wide wavelength range. We also investigate the propagation features of fundamental mode and band-gap effect of PBGFs.

In this thesis, we demonstrate a new type of resonant, nonlinear, light-matter interaction facilitated by the unique electromagnetic vacuum density-of-state (DOS) structure of Photonic Band Gap (PBG) materials. Strong light localization inside PBG waveguides allows extremely strong coupling between laser fields and embedded two-level quantum dots (QD). The resulting Mollow splitting is large enough to traverse the precipitous DOS jump created by a waveguide mode cutoff. This allows the QD Bloch vector to sense the non-smoothness of the vacuum structure and evolve in novel ways that are forbidden in free space. These unusual strong-coupling effects are described using a "vacuum structure term" of the Bloch equation, combined with field-dependent relaxation rates experienced by the QD Bloch vector. This leads to alternation between coherent evolution and enhanced relaxation. As a result, dynamic high-contrast switching of QD populations can be realized with a single beam of picosecond pulses. During enhanced relaxation to a slightly inverted steady state at the pulse peak, the Bloch vector rapidly switches from anti-parallel to parallel alignment with the pulse torque vector. This then leads to a highly inverted state through subsequent coherent "adiabatic following" near the pulse tail, providing a robust mechanism for picosecond, femto-Joule all-optical switching. The simultaneous input of a second, weaker (signal) driving beam at a different frequency on top of the stronger (holding) beam enables rich modulation effects and unprecedented coherent control over the QD population. This occurs through resonant coupling of the signal pulse with the Mollow sideband transitions created by the holding pulse, leading to either augmentation or negation of the final QD population achieved by the holding pulse alone. This effect is applied to ultrafast all-optical logic AND, OR and NOT gates in the presence of significant (0.1 THz) nonradiative dephasing and (about 1%) inhomogeneous broadening. Further numerical studies of pulse evolutions inside the proposed devices demonstrate satisfactory population contrast within a PBG waveguide length of about 10 micro meter. These results provide the building blocks for low-power, ultrafast, multi-wavelength channel, on-chip, all-optical computing.

In this thesis, we demonstrate a new type of resonant, nonlinear, light-matter interaction facilitated by the unique electromagnetic vacuum density-of-state (DOS) structure of Photonic Band Gap (PBG) materials. Strong light localization inside PBG waveguides allows extremely strong coupling between laser fields and embedded two-level quantum dots (QD). The resulting Mollow splitting is large enough to traverse the precipitous DOS jump created by a waveguide mode cutoff. This allows the QD Bloch vector to sense the non-smoothness of the vacuum structure and evolve in novel ways that are forbidden in free space. These unusual strong-coupling effects are described using a "vacuum structure term" of the Bloch equation, combined with field-dependent relaxation rates experienced by the QD Bloch vector. This leads to alternation between coherent evolution and enhanced relaxation. As a result, dynamic high-contrast switching of QD populations can be realized with a single beam of picosecond pulses. During enhanced relaxation to a slightly inverted steady state at the pulse peak, the Bloch vector rapidly switches from anti-parallel to parallel alignment with the pulse torque vector. This then leads to a highly inverted state through subsequent coherent "adiabatic following" near the pulse tail, providing a robust mechanism for picosecond, femto-Joule all-optical switching. The simultaneous input of a second, weaker (signal) driving beam at a different frequency on top of the stronger (holding) beam enables rich modulation effects and unprecedented coherent control over the QD population. This occurs through resonant coupling of the signal pulse with the Mollow sideband transitions created by the holding pulse, leading to either augmentation or negation of the final QD population achieved by the holding pulse alone. This effect is applied to ultrafast all-optical logic AND, OR and NOT gates in the presence of significant (0.1 THz) nonradiative dephasing and (about 1%) inhomogeneous broadening. Further numerical studies of pulse evolutions inside the proposed devices demonstrate satisfactory population contrast within a PBG waveguide length of about 10 micro meter. These results provide the building blocks for low-power, ultrafast, multi-wavelength channel, on-chip, all-optical computing.

No description available.

GaN nanopore arrays with pore diameters of approximately 75 nm were fabricated by inductively coupled plasma etching (ICP) using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) films as etch masks. Nanoporous AAO films were formed on the GaN surface by evaporating an Al film onto a GaN epilayer and subsequently anodizing the aluminum. To minimize plasma-induced damage, the template was exposed to CF4-based plasma conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis shows that the diameter and the periodicity of the nanopores in the GaN were directly transferred from the original anodic alumina template. The pore diameter in the AAO film can be easily controlled by tuning the anodization conditions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and micro-Raman techniques were employed to assess the quality of the etched GaN nanopore surface. Such a cost-effective method to produce nano-patterned GaN template would be useful for growth and fabrication of III-Nitrides based nanostructures and photonic band gap materials. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range (2-20 m) is particularly useful for chemical sensing due to the excitation of fundamental rotational and vibrational modes. In the fingerprint region (10-20 m), most organic analytes have unique absorption patterns; absorption measurements in this region provide molecule-specific information with high sensitivity. Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) present an ideal light source for (MIR) chemical sensing due to their narrow linewidth, high spectral density, compact size, and ease of fabrication of nearly any MIR wavelength. As the emission wavelength is dependent on layer size within the heterostructure rather than material composition, various wavelengths in the MIR can be achieved through bandstructure engineering. High sensitivity measurements have been achieved in both gas and liquid phase by developing integrated sensing systems. The laser emission frequency is selected to match a strong absorption feature for the analyte of interest where no other interfering bands are located. A waveguide is then developed to fit the application and wavelength used. Gas sensing applications incorporate silica hollow waveguides (HWG) and an OmniGuide fiber (or photonic bandgap HWG). Analyte gas is injected into the hollow core allowing the HWG or OmniGuide to serve simultaneously as a waveguide and miniaturized gas cell. Sensitivities of parts per billion are achieved with a response time of 8 s and a sample volume of approximately 1 mL. Liquid sensing is achieved via evanescent wave measurements with planar waveguides of silver halide (AgX) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). GaAs waveguides developed in this work have a thickness on the order of the wavelength of light achieving single-mode waveguides, providing a significant improvement in evanescent field strength over conventional multimode fibers. Liquid samples of L volume at the waveguide surfaces are detected. QCLs have begun to be utilized as a light source in the MIR regime over the last decade. The next step in this field is the development of compact and highly integrated device platforms which take full advantage of this technology. The sensing demonstrations in this work advance the field towards finding key applications in medical, biological, environmental, and atmospheric measurements.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2017-03-28T19:29:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 AdllerDeOliveiraGuimaraes_TESE.pdf: 3828999 bytes, checksum: 3e7dfbe3050d7b59dfd94da65f4fdbe5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-03-29T18:27:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 AdllerDeOliveiraGuimaraes_TESE.pdf: 3828999 bytes, checksum: 3e7dfbe3050d7b59dfd94da65f4fdbe5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-29T18:27:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AdllerDeOliveiraGuimaraes_TESE.pdf: 3828999 bytes, checksum: 3e7dfbe3050d7b59dfd94da65f4fdbe5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-02 / A crescente demanda por tecnologia de comunica??o sem fio na sociedade moderna exige a constru??o de circuitos integrados de micro-ondas cada vez mais sofisticados. Neste sentido, as antenas planares de microfita se destacam devido seus tamanhos reduzidos e por serem utilizadas em diversas aplica??es, com ?nfase em aeronaves, sat?lites e sistemas de comunica??es m?veis. Em adi??o, pesquisas recentes mostram o uso da intelig?ncia computacional na ?rea de telecomunica??es para an?lise de novas aplica??es em antenas de microfita, como tamb?m na otimiza??o das aplica??es existentes, buscando um melhor desempenho na recep??o e/ou transmiss?o de sinais. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo obter as propriedades de radia??o de antenas de microfita com uso de novos modelos de estruturas do tipo Photonic Band Gap (PBG), baseadas em malhas com distribui??es peri?dicas e quase peri?dicas, aplicadas no substrato. Nos procedimentos pr?ticos construiu-se prot?tipos de antenas que foram utilizados para obter um banco de dados para alimentar o processo de treinamento de uma Rede Neural Artificial (RNA), visando a obten??o da frequ?ncia de opera??o das antenas. Por fim, foi otimizado o procedimento de obten??o da frequ?ncia de projeto e estrutura PBG necess?rios para a antena ressoar em uma dada frequ?ncia de opera??o. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que ? poss?vel ? utiliza??o de uma RNA na otimiza??o de um projeto de antenas de microfita com substrato PBG. A valida??o dos resultados fornecidos pela RNA foi realizada com base na constru??o de prot?tipos das antenas, os quais apresentaram uma boa concord?ncia entre os valores simulados e medidos. / The increasing demand for wireless technology in contemporary society requires the construction of integrated microwave circuits each time more sophisticated. In this sense, the planar microstrip antenna stands out because their small sizes and used in various applications, with emphasis on airplanes, satellites and mobile communication systems. In addition, recent researches shows the use of computing intelligence in telecommunications for analysis of new applications at microstrip antennas, as also the optimization of existing applications, searching for a better performance at the reception and / or signal transmission. In this context, this work has as objective get the radiation properties of microstrip antennas using the new models of Photonic Band Gap (PBG) structures based in meshes with periodic distributions and quasi-periodic printed on the substrate. In the practical procedures, prototypes of antennas were constructed that were used to obtain a database to feed the training process of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), in order to obtain the resonance frequency of antennas. Finally, it was optimized the procedure for obtaining the project frequency and PBG structure required for a given operating frequency. According to the results, it can be concluded that it is possible to use an ANN in the optimization of a project of microstrip antenna with PBG substrate. The validation of the results provided by the ANN was based on building prototypes of the antennas, which showed good agreement between the simulated and measured values.