The resonant absorption, emission, and scattering of light are the fundamental optical processes that have been used both to probe matter and to manipulate light itself. In the last decade there has been essential progress in coherent control of both linear and nonlinear optical responses based on resonant excitation of atomic coherence in multilevel quantum systems. Some interesting and useful phenomena, resulting from coherent control of absorption and the group index, such as electromagnetically induced transparency, lasing without inversion, and ultra-slow group velocity of light have been widely studied. This work is focused on coherent control of refractive index and resonant fluorescence in multilevel medium. We suggest two promising schemes for resonant enhancement of the refractive index with eliminated absorption and propose their implementation in transition element doped crystals with excited state absorption and in a cell of Rb atoms at natural abundance. We show how to use one of these schemes for spatial variation of the refractive index via its periodic resonant increase/decrease, remarkably keeping at the same time zero absorption/gain. It opens the way to production of transparent photonic structures (such as distributed Bragg reflectors, holey fibers, or photonic crystals) in a homogeneous resonant atomic media such as dielectrics with homogeneously distributed impurities, atomic, or molecular gases. These optically produced photonic structures could easily be controlled (including switching on/off, changing amplitude and period of modulation) and would be highly selective in frequency, naturally limited by the width of the optical resonance. We also derive the optical fluorescence spectra of a three-level medium driven by two coherent fields at the adjacent transitions in a general case when all three transitions are allowed. We show that coherent driving can efficiently control the distribution of intensities between the fluorescent channels. In particular, the total intensity of fluorescence at the transition which is not driven by the optical fields may essentially exceed the fluorescence intensity at the driven transitions under the condition of two-photon resonance. This counter-intuitive effect is due to depletion of the intermediate state via atomic interference.

The cavity quantum electrodynamics has been applied to investigate the strong coupling interaction dynamics process between the microcavity field and the atom. The high quality cavity is a key to the realization of cavity quantum electrodynamics. Photonic crystal nanocavities are with small mode volumes and large quality factors. Lights are confined within the nanocavity. They can be used for cavity QED experiments of Fabry-Perot cavity. We have provided a realization of a quantum entanglement method for quantum information processing. In this paper, we discuss the entanglement swapping in the strong coupling process between two level atoms interacting with the photonic crystal microcavities fields of coherent states. We investigate the atomic level population and the entanglement degree of the system. We have found that the atomic maximal entangled state can be transformed into the photonic crystal microcavity maximal coherent entangled state cavity field, whereas the photonic crystal microcavity maximal coherent entangled state cavity field can be transformed into the atomic maximal entangled state.

Based on a full-wave formulation, a vector boundary element method (VBEM) is proposed to model the photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) (microstructured fibers). The accuracy and efficiency of the approach are confirmed by comparing the results calculated with those in previous literatures. With employing the VBEM, the guiding characteristics, including the effective indexes, vector mode patterns, and the polarization properties of the PCFs are investigated. There polarization characteristics of the PCFs with elliptical air holes (EPCFs) and the one ring air-hole EPCF embedded in the step-index core are studied and discussed. In addition, based on the VBEM formulations, a novel and efficient numerical approach to calculate the dispersion parameters of the PCFs is also proposed. The effect of the PCF geometrical structure on the group velocity dispersion property is reviewed, and then the one-ring defect and two-ring defect PCFs are studied and designed for the ultra-flattened dispersion applications. As an example, a four-ring (two-ring defect) PCF with flattened dispersion of ¡Ó0.25 ps/km/nm from 1.295£gm to 1.725£gm wavelength is numerically demonstrated.

Abstract A projected fringe profilomertry ¡]PFP¡^ using a supercontinuum light illumination for micro-scale measurement is proposed. The supercontinuum light is generated by launching ultra short laser into a highly nonlinear photonic crystal fibers. The supercontinuum light with the following advantage¡G ¡]1¡^ Depth of the field is very large in the projected system. ¡]2¡^No speckle noise in the illumination system. Experiment results has shown that using supercontinuum light is superior to other illumination system This study indicates that the proposed measurement scheme could be applied to 3D shape measurements with large depth variation, especially for semi-conductor devices¡Bmicro electro-mechanical devices and biomedical species.

Due to the property of the photonic crystal, like bandgap, many researches on them are discussed. Photons with wavelength within the bandgap cannot propagate through the crystal. Then placing some defects in the crystal, because the periodic arrangement is destroyed, it is possible to build a waveguide to guide light along certain path. One kind is coupled cavity waveguide. The photons can propagate in a coupled-cavity waveguide by coupling without radiation losses. So it is widely used to implement a variety of optical devices. In this thesis, we use coupled cavity waveguide to construct devices. And the characteristics of Mach-Zehnder interferometer and power splitter are discussed. Then we propose two logic gate structures with an input port and two control ports. The state of control port determines the electric field at the output port. Besides, the four-port channel drop filter is proposed. It will make the three wavelengths ¢w1310, 1490 and 1550 nm¢w propagate in different waveguides. So it could be used as a wavelength demultiplexer for FTTH. Finally, the property of the PC-based rat-race circuit is investigated. By adjusting the phase of the control signal, we could decide the input signal to exit from output 1 or output 2. In this way, we could use it to function as a switch.

In this thesis, ridge waveguide laser, quantum well intermixing, 1x1 and 2x2 optical switching and ring resonator with multimode-waveguide turning mirror couplers have been investigated. We develop a new design that the perturbation is the minimum when the crossing occurs at the self-image location in a low-loss multimode waveguide. We use a center-fold low-loss multimode waveguide with a single self image at the center. Such waveguides can cross at 90 degrees or 60 degrees at the center with minimal cross talk. One can reflect the incident mode into an intersecting waveguide by introducing an idea reflecting plane. In practice, the reflector is replaced by a plane for total internal reflection with correction for Goos-Hanchen shift. Passive component for£f = 1.41 £gm samples, 1x1 60-degree multimode-waveguide turning mirror, 1x1 90-degree multimode-waveguide turning mirror, 2x2 90-degree multimode-waveguide turning mirror and a single ring resonator with 2x2 multimode-waveguide turning mirror couplers have been fabricated. (1) The multimode-waveguide turning mirror coupler with cross coupling factor (K) of 0.15 is achieved by an etched facet with a correction for Goos-Hanchen shift. (2) The length of the multimode-waveguide turning mirror coupler is only 33% of the length of conventional straight 2x2 MMI coupler with K=0.15. (3) The circumference of the curve waveguide in this ring resonator is decreased by 50%. (4) The characterization of the InP-based single ring resonator incorporating 2x2 multimode-waveguide turning mirror couplers with K= 0.15 has a free spectral range of 82 GHz, a contrast of 4 dB, and a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.24 nm for the drop port. (5) This single resonators in In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.53Ga0.26Al0.21As grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and In0.67Ga0.33As0.6P0.4/In0.71Ga0.29As0.74P0.26 grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) have been demonstrated, respectively. We have also developed quantum well intermixing technique for the photonic integration. (1) Argon plasma bombardment followed by rapid thermal annealing for InGaAs/InGaAlAs multiple-quantum-well structures grown by MBE has been found to strongly enhance the intensity of room-temperature photoluminescence signal by more than an order of magnitude. The strength of the photoluminescence signal is found to be dependent on the plasma RF power and bombardment time. The resulting blue shift of the photoluminescence wavelength due to quantum well intermixing is found to be under 15 nm. (2) Process combining inductively-coupled-plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) and SiO2 sputtering film has been investigated for the InGaAsP and InGaAlAs multi-quantum wells (MQWs). Optimal distance is of 300 nm for InGaAsP, and of 200-nm-thick for InGaAlAs between MQWs and the upper cladding by ICP-RIE and bombardment. The process resulted in a bandgap blue-shift of 90 nm for InGaAsP, and of 60 nm for InGaAlAs. The result is very useful to regrown, the sacrificing layer and to integrate the fabrication.

<p>The thesis explores preparation and properties of bismuthiron garnet (BIG) films and the incorporation of BIG films intoone-dimensional magneto-optical photonic crystals (MOPCs).</p><p>Films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition. Weinvestigated or measured crystallinity, morphology,film-substrate interface, cracks, roughness, composition,magnetic coercivity, refractive index and extinctioncoefficient, and magneto-optical Faraday rotation (FR) andellipticity. The investigations were partly performed onselected samples, and partly on two series of films ondifferent substrates and of different thicknesses. BIG filmswere successfully tested for the application of magneto-opticalvisualization. The effect of annealing in oxygen atmosphere wasalso investigated - very careful annealing can increase FR byup to 20%. A smaller number of the above mentionedinvestigations were carried out on yttrium iron garnet (YIG)films as well.</p><p>Periodical BIG-YIG multilayers with up to 25 single layerswere designed and prepared with the purpose to enhance FR at aselected wavelength. A central BIG layer was introduced asdefect layer into the MOPC structure and generated resonancesin optical transmittance and FR at a chosen design wavelength.In a 17- layer structure, at the wavelength of 748 nm, FR wasincreased from -2.6 deg/µm to -6.3 deg/µmat a smallreduction in transmittance from 69% to 58% as compared to asingle-layer BIG film of equivalent thickness. In contrast tothick BIG films, the MOPCs did not crack. We were first toreport preparation of all-garnet MOPCs and second toexperimentally demonstrate the MOPC principle inmagneto-optical garnets.</p>

Near-field light confinement on scanning probe is the backbone technology for near-field imaging with subwavelength resolution that overcomes the diffraction limit by exploiting the properties of evanescent waves. The fusion of the photonics and the latest nanofabrication technology creates emerging frontier for near-field light confinement research with new design approach. The propagation of light can now be controlled by periodical structure at subwavelength scale with low loss in the artificially synthesized dielectric material. New light propagation patterns can now be implemented in subwavelength structure, such as directional free space light focus grating coupler, photonic bandgap material like photonic crystal by permitting light propagation at certain wavelength while prohibiting light outside of bandgap, and nano-slot light resonator for increased light-matter interaction at nanometer scale. Advances in this research area will have tremendous impact on electromagnetic modeling and biomedical technology for probe based subwavelength optical detection. My doctoral research focused on investigating highly efficient, nanofabrication compatible directional light coupling structure and near-field subwavelength light focus through photonic crystal material. The distinct significance of this research was placed on exploitation of the embedded metallic grating coupler of high free space directivity and subwavelength light processing circuit of enhanced near-field transmission rate, the two most dominating basic elements of the scanning optical imaging system. First, I designed a compact elliptical grating coupler based on embedded noble metal such as gold or silver that efficiently interconnects free space with dielectric rectangular waveguide. The dense system integration capability shows the application potential for on-chip interfacing subwavelength light processing circuits and near-field fluorescent biosensors with far-field detection of superb radiation directivity and coupling efficiency. Second, a novel all-dielectric light confinement probe designed by slotted photonic crystal waveguide provides a light confinement mechanism on the lateral plane. The resonating nano-cavities and the λ/4 nano-slot are used to enlarge the light throughput while as the nano-slot waveguide provides single subwavelength center lobe. The impetus of this research is the growing interests by near-field imaging researchers to obtain a low loss visible light confinement probe designs through mass production. / text

Inorganic material based electronics and photonics on unconventional substrates have shown tremendous unprecedented applications, especially in areas that traditional wafer based electronics and photonics are unable to cover. These areas range from flexible and conformal consumer products to biocompatible medical devices. This thesis presents the research on single crystal silicon nanomembrane photonics on different substrates, especially flexible substrates. A transfer method has been developed to transfer silicon nanomembrane defect-freely onto glass and flexible polyimide substrates. Using this method, intricate single crystal silicon nanomembrane device, such as photonic crystal microcavity, has been transferred onto flexible substrates. To test the device, subwavelength grating couplers are designed and implemented to couple light in and out of the transferred waveguides with high coupling efficiency. The cavity shows a quality factor ~ 9000 with water cladding and ~30000 with glycerol cladding, which is comparable to the same cavity demonstrated on silicon-on-insulator platform, indicating the high quality of the transferred silicon nanomembrane. The device could be bended to a radius less than 15 mm. The experiments show that the resonant wavelength shifts to longer wavelength under tensile stress, while it shifts to shorter wavelength under compressive stress. The sensitivity of the cavity is ~70 nm/RIU, which is independent of bending radius. This demonstration opens vast possibilities for a whole new range of high performance, light-weight and conformal silicon photonic devices. The techniques and devices (e.g. wafer bonding, stamp printing, subwavelength grating couplers, and modulator) generated in the research can also be beneficial for other research fields. / text

Colorimetric litmus tests such as pH paper have enjoyed wide commercial success due to their inexpensive production and exceptional ease of use. However, expansion of colorimetry to new sensing paradigms is challenging because macroscopic color changes are seldom coupled to arbitrary differences in the physical/chemical properties of a system. In this thesis I present in detail the development of Wetting in Color Technology, focusing primarily on its application as an inexpensive and highly selective colorimetric indicator for organic liquids. The technology exploits chemically-encoded inverse-opal photonic crystals to control the infiltration of fluids to liquid-specific spatial patterns, projecting minute differences in liquids’ wettability to macroscopically distinct, easy-to-visualize structural color patterns. It is shown experimentally and corroborated with theoretical modeling using percolation theory that the high selectivity of wetting, upon-which the sensitivity of the indicator relies, is caused by the highly symmetric structure of our large-area, defect-free \(SiO_2\) inverse-opals. The regular structure also produces a bright iridescent color, which disappears when infiltrated with liquid naturally coupling the optical and fluidic responses. Surface modification protocols are developed, requiring only silanization and selective oxidation, to facilitate the deterministic design of an indicator that differentiates a broad range of liquids. The resulting tunable, built-in horizontal and vertical chemistry gradients allow the wettability threshold to be tailored to specific liquids across a continuous range, and make the readout rely only on countable color differences. As wetting is a generic fluidic phenomenon, Wetting in Color technology could be suitable for applications in authentication or identification of unknown liquids across a broad range of industries. However, the generic nature of the response also ensures chemical non-specificity. It is shown that combinatorial measurements from an array of indicators add a degree of chemical specificity to the platform, which can be further improved by monitoring the drying of the inverse-opal films. While colorimetry is the central focus of this thesis, applications of this platform in encryption, fluidics and nanofabrication are also briefly explored. / Engineering and Applied Sciences