Nanocavities at the surface of three-dimensional photonic crystals

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 21; no. 9; pp. 10590 - 10596
• Main Authors: Ishizaki, Kenji, Gondaira, Kou, Ota, Yuji, Suzuki, Katsuyoshi, Noda, Susumu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 06.05.2013
• Subjects: Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - ultrastructure; Nanotechnology - instrumentation; Photons; Surface Plasmon Resonance - instrumentation; Surface Properties
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/oe.21.010590

We investigate nanocavities at the surface of three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals, where the polarization-independent surface-mode gap can be utilized. We consider the formation of various nanocavities by introducing artificial defects utilizing the 3D structures around the surface and discuss the possibilities for increasing the Q-factors of the surface nanocavities with TE-like polarization based on the advanced designs of donor-type defects. We also introduce the design of acceptor-type defects and show that TM-like nanocavities are obtained. We then fabricate the designed nanocavities and examine their resonant characteristics; we successfully demonstrate TE-like nanocavities with Q-factors of ~40,000, which is four-times higher than previous surface cavities and as high as that of the cavities embedded inside 3D photonic crystals. TM-like nanocavities with Q-factors of ~22,000 are also demonstrated for the first time.