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Observation of transparency of erbium-doped silicon nitride in photonic crystal nanobeam cavities

Yiyang Gong, Maria Makarova, Rui Li, Martin J. Stevens, Burm Baek, Sae Woo Nam, Luca Dal Negro

Published Jan 1, 2010• 24 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

One-dimensional nanobeam photonic crystal cavities are fabricated in an Er-doped amorphous silicon nitride layer.Photoluminescence from the cavities around 1.54 µm is studied at cryogenic and room temperatures at different optical pump powers.The resonators demonstrate Purcell enhanced absorption and emission rates, also confirmed by time-resolved measurements.Resonances exhibit linewidth narrowing with pump power, signifying absorption bleaching and the onset of stimulated emission in the material at both 5.5 K and room temperature.We estimate from the cavity linewidths that Er has been pumped to transparency at the cavity resonance wavelength.

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Observation of Transparency of Erbium-doped Silicon nitride in photonic crystal nanobeam cavities

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One dimensional nanobeam photonic crystal cavities are fabricated in an Er-doped amorphous silicon nitride layer. Photoluminescence from the cavities around 1.54 microm is studied at cryogenic and room temperatures at different optical pump powers. The resonators demonstrate Purcell enhanced absorption and emission rates, also confirmed by time resolved measurements. Resonances exhibit linewidth narrowing with pump power, signifying absorption bleaching and the onset of stimulated emission in the material at both 5.5 K and room temperature. We estimate from the cavity linewidths that Er has been pumped to transparency at the cavity resonance wavelength.

arXiv:1003.1801•Optics Express•Jun 14, 2010•27 citations

Linewidth narrowing and Purcell enhancement in photonic crystal cavities on an Er-doped silicon nitride platform

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Light emission from Er-doped amorphous silicon nitride coupled to photonic crystal resonators is studied. The results demonstrate Purcell enhanced Er absorption and linewidth narrowing of the cavity resonance with increasing pump power.

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Linewidth narrowing and Purcell enhancement in photonic crystal cavities on an Er-doped silicon nitride platform

Yiyang Gong, Maria Makarova, Selçuk Yerci +9 more

Light emission at 1.54 microm from an Er-doped amorphous silicon nitride layer coupled to photonic crystal resonators at cryogenic and room temperatures and under varying optical pump powers has been studied. The results demonstrate that small mode volume, high quality factor resonators enhance Er absorption and emission rates at the cavity resonance. Time resolved measurements give 11- to 17-fold Purcell enhancement of spontaneous emission at cryogenic temperatures, and 2.4-fold enhancement at room temperature. Resonances exhibit linewidth narrowing with pump power, signifying absorption bleaching and partial inversion of the Er ions cryogenic temperatures. We estimate that 31% of Er ions are excited at the highest pump power.

Optics Express•Jan 25, 2010•48 citations

Controlled spontaneous emission in erbium-doped microphotonic materials

Jeroen Kalkman

Erbium is a rare-earth metal that, when incorporated in a solid, can emit light at a wavelength of 1.5 μm. It plays a key role in current day telecommunication technology as the principle ingredient of optical fiber amplifiers. In this thesis the control of the Er spontaneous emission in three different types of microphotonic materials is described. Part I of this thesis focuses on the effect of a metallo-dielectric interface on the spontaneous emission of optical emitters in silica glass. It is shown that Er ions near a Ag interface can couple to surface plasmons (SPs) via a near-field interaction. By coupling SPs out into the far field, large changes in the Er photoluminescence emission distribution, spectra, and polarization can be observed. The excitation of SPs also results in an increase of the Er photoluminescence decay rate. The observed decay rates are in good agreement with calculations based on a classical dipole oscillator model. From the change in photoluminescence decay rate of Si nanocrystals near a Ag interface it is shown that Si nanocrystals can efficiently excite SPs and have an internal quantum efficiency of 77 %. Part II focuses on the effect of a microcavity on the spontaneous emission of Er and describes how ion implantation can be used to dope dielectric microresonators with optically active Er ions. The fabrication and characterization of an Er ion-implanted silica microsphere resonator is described that shows lasing at 1.5 μm when pumped above its lasing threshold. Ion implantation is also used to dope toroidal microcavities on a Si chip with Er. The microtoroids are doped by either pre-implantation into the SiO2 base material, or by post-implantation in a fully fabricated microtoroid. The optical activation of Er ions in the microtoroid is investigated and Er lasing at 1.5 μm is observed for both types of microcavities with the lowest threshold (4.5 μW) for the pre-implanted microtoroids. Part III describes the fabrication of an Er-doped Si-inverse opal photonic crystal. These photonic crystals can potentially have a photonic bandgap that can fully inhibit the spontaneous emission of on optical emitter. Fabrication criteria are derived for such a photonic crystal, based on the lattice parameter, filling fraction, and Si refractive index. In the opal photonic crystal composed of both Si and SiO2 we show that Er ions can be selectively excited in both the Si and SiO2 part of the photonic crystal by changing the excitation wavelength and/or the measurement temperature.

•Mar 9, 2005•3 citations

Quantum nanophotonic devices based on rare-earth-doped crystals (Conference Presentation)

Andrei Faraon, Tian Zhong, Jonathan M. Kindem +4 more

Quantum light-matter interfaces that reversibly map the quantum state of photons onto the quantum states of atoms, are essential components in the quantum engineering toolbox with applications in quantum communication, computing, and quantum-enabled sensing. In this talk I present our progress towards developing on-chip quantum light-matter interfaces based on nanophotonic resonators fabricated in rare-earth-doped crystals known to exhibit the longest optical and spin coherence times in the solid state. We recently demonstrated coherent control of neodymium (Nd3+) ions coupled to yttrium orthosilicate Y2SiO5 (YSO) photonic crystal nano-beam resonator. The coupling of the Nd3+ 883 nm 4I9/2-4F3/2 transition to the nano-resonator results in a 40 fold enhancement of the transition rate (Purcell effect), and increased optical absorption (~80%) - adequate for realizing efficient optical quantum memories via cavity impedance matching. Optical coherence times T2 up to 100 μs with low spectral diffusion were measured for ions embedded in photonic crystals, which are comparable to those observed in unprocessed bulk samples. This indicates that the remarkable coherence properties of REIs are preserved during nanofabrication process. Multi-temporal mode photon storage using stimulated photon echo and atomic frequency comb (AFC) protocols were implemented in these nano-resonators. Our current technology can be readily transferred to Erbium (Er) doped YSO devices, therefore opening the possibility of efficient on-chip optical quantum memory at 1.5 μm telecom wavelength. Integration with superconducting qubits can lead to devices for reversible quantum conversion of optical photons to microwave photons.

•Apr 28, 2017•0 citations

Silicon photonic crystals and spontaneous emission

M. J. A. de Dood

Photonic crystals, i.e. materials that have a periodic variation in refractive index, form an interesting new class of materials that can be used to modify spontaneous emission and manipulate optical modes in ways that were impossible so far. This thesis is divided in three parts. \nPart I discusses the design and fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals in silicon using deep anisotropic etching with a SF6/O2 plasma. The etching process was optimized for the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals by tuning the main parameters of the etching process, i.e. temperature, bias voltage and O2 flow. Vertical confinement in these structures is provided by integrating the structures in a dielectric waveguide. For this purpose, amorphous silicon, silicon-on-insulator and SiGe structures were considered. Fabrication of structures in both amorphous silicon and silicon-on-insulator was successfully demonstrated. The incorporation of luminescent species, such as laser dyes, was demonstrated using a new wet chemical coating technique that forms thin silica layers on a substrate.\nPart II discusses the modification of spontaneous emission in one dimensional systems by studying the decay rate of luminescing Cr ions close to a dielectric interface. The decay rate of the Cr ions can be changed by bringing the samples into contact with a range of liquids with different refractive indices. The change in radiative decay rate can be calculated by calculating the local density of states. To explain the experimental results additional non-radiative decay channels have to be introduced and yields a quantum efficiency of ~50% for the Cr R-line luminescence. This concept was further extended to a thin silica layer on silicon implanted with erbium ions and resulted in the radiative rate of erbium in pure silica: 54 s-1. This number was used to analyze the decay rate of erbium ions in silica colloidal spheres that can be used as building block for three-dimensional photonic crystals by self-assembly.\nFinally, Part III discusses the optical properties and modified spontaneous emission from a three-dimensional silicon photonic crystal of finite (5-layers) thickness. The crystals are made in a layer-by-layer approach using lithographic tools and show near 100% reflection in the 1.4-1.7 mu m wavelength range indicative of a photonic stopgap. A direct comparison with the calculated reflectivity reveals that some features in the reflectivity can be ascribed to the finite thickness of the crystal, while other features can be explained in terms of a superstructure that leads to zone folding of the photonic bandstructure. The collected spontaneous emission from erbium implanted crystals is strongly reduced for wavelengths in the stopgap from 1.4-1.7 mu m. The changes in collected luminescence intensity are explained in terms of a rate equation model that takes into account the effect of Bragg scattering, the local density of states and the quantum efficiency of the emitters inside the crystal. Using this model a spectral attenuation of 5 dB per unit cell at 1.539 mu m wavelength is obtained from the experimental data, which is in perfect agreement with existing theory and transmission data.

•Apr 11, 2002•9 citations
One-dimensional nanobeam photonic crystal cavities are fabricated in an Er-doped amorphous silicon nitride layer.Photoluminescence from the cavities around 1.54 µm is studied at cryogenic and room temperatures at different optical pump powers.The resonators demonstrate Purcell enhanced absorption and emission rates, also confirmed by time-resolved measurements.Resonances exhibit linewidth narrowing with pump power, signifying absorption bleaching and the onset of stimulated emission in the material at both 5.5 K and room temperature.We estimate from the cavity linewidths that Er has been pumped to transparency at the cavity resonance wavelength.
One dimensional nanobeam photonic crystal cavities are fabricated in an Er-doped amorphous silicon nitride layer. Photoluminescence from the cavities around 1.54 microm is studied at cryogenic and room temperatures at different optical pump powers. The resonators demonstrate Purcell enhanced absorption and emission rates, also confirmed by time resolved measurements. Resonances exhibit linewidth narrowing with pump power, signifying absorption bleaching and the onset of stimulated emission in the material at both 5.5 K and room temperature. We estimate from the cavity linewidths that Er has been pumped to transparency at the cavity resonance wavelength.
Light emission at 1.54 microm from an Er-doped amorphous silicon nitride layer coupled to photonic crystal resonators at cryogenic and room temperatures and under varying optical pump powers has been studied. The results demonstrate that small mode volume, high quality factor resonators enhance Er absorption and emission rates at the cavity resonance. Time resolved measurements give 11- to 17-fold Purcell enhancement of spontaneous emission at cryogenic temperatures, and 2.4-fold enhancement at room temperature. Resonances exhibit linewidth narrowing with pump power, signifying absorption bleaching and partial inversion of the Er ions cryogenic temperatures. We estimate that 31% of Er ions are excited at the highest pump power.
Erbium is a rare-earth metal that, when incorporated in a solid, can emit light at a wavelength of 1.5 μm. It plays a key role in current day telecommunication technology as the principle ingredient of optical fiber amplifiers. In this thesis the control of the Er spontaneous emission in three different types of microphotonic materials is described. Part I of this thesis focuses on the effect of a metallo-dielectric interface on the spontaneous emission of optical emitters in silica glass. It is shown that Er ions near a Ag interface can couple to surface plasmons (SPs) via a near-field interaction. By coupling SPs out into the far field, large changes in the Er photoluminescence emission distribution, spectra, and polarization can be observed. The excitation of SPs also results in an increase of the Er photoluminescence decay rate. The observed decay rates are in good agreement with calculations based on a classical dipole oscillator model. From the change in photoluminescence decay rate of Si nanocrystals near a Ag interface it is shown that Si nanocrystals can efficiently excite SPs and have an internal quantum efficiency of 77 %. Part II focuses on the effect of a microcavity on the spontaneous emission of Er and describes how ion implantation can be used to dope dielectric microresonators with optically active Er ions. The fabrication and characterization of an Er ion-implanted silica microsphere resonator is described that shows lasing at 1.5 μm when pumped above its lasing threshold. Ion implantation is also used to dope toroidal microcavities on a Si chip with Er. The microtoroids are doped by either pre-implantation into the SiO2 base material, or by post-implantation in a fully fabricated microtoroid. The optical activation of Er ions in the microtoroid is investigated and Er lasing at 1.5 μm is observed for both types of microcavities with the lowest threshold (4.5 μW) for the pre-implanted microtoroids. Part III describes the fabrication of an Er-doped Si-inverse opal photonic crystal. These photonic crystals can potentially have a photonic bandgap that can fully inhibit the spontaneous emission of on optical emitter. Fabrication criteria are derived for such a photonic crystal, based on the lattice parameter, filling fraction, and Si refractive index. In the opal photonic crystal composed of both Si and SiO2 we show that Er ions can be selectively excited in both the Si and SiO2 part of the photonic crystal by changing the excitation wavelength and/or the measurement temperature.
Quantum light-matter interfaces that reversibly map the quantum state of photons onto the quantum states of atoms, are essential components in the quantum engineering toolbox with applications in quantum communication, computing, and quantum-enabled sensing. In this talk I present our progress towards developing on-chip quantum light-matter interfaces based on nanophotonic resonators fabricated in rare-earth-doped crystals known to exhibit the longest optical and spin coherence times in the solid state. We recently demonstrated coherent control of neodymium (Nd3+) ions coupled to yttrium orthosilicate Y2SiO5 (YSO) photonic crystal nano-beam resonator. The coupling of the Nd3+ 883 nm 4I9/2-4F3/2 transition to the nano-resonator results in a 40 fold enhancement of the transition rate (Purcell effect), and increased optical absorption (~80%) - adequate for realizing efficient optical quantum memories via cavity impedance matching. Optical coherence times T2 up to 100 μs with low spectral diffusion were measured for ions embedded in photonic crystals, which are comparable to those observed in unprocessed bulk samples. This indicates that the remarkable coherence properties of REIs are preserved during nanofabrication process. Multi-temporal mode photon storage using stimulated photon echo and atomic frequency comb (AFC) protocols were implemented in these nano-resonators. Our current technology can be readily transferred to Erbium (Er) doped YSO devices, therefore opening the possibility of efficient on-chip optical quantum memory at 1.5 μm telecom wavelength. Integration with superconducting qubits can lead to devices for reversible quantum conversion of optical photons to microwave photons.
Photonic crystals, i.e. materials that have a periodic variation in refractive index, form an interesting new class of materials that can be used to modify spontaneous emission and manipulate optical modes in ways that were impossible so far. This thesis is divided in three parts. \nPart I discusses the design and fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals in silicon using deep anisotropic etching with a SF6/O2 plasma. The etching process was optimized for the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals by tuning the main parameters of the etching process, i.e. temperature, bias voltage and O2 flow. Vertical confinement in these structures is provided by integrating the structures in a dielectric waveguide. For this purpose, amorphous silicon, silicon-on-insulator and SiGe structures were considered. Fabrication of structures in both amorphous silicon and silicon-on-insulator was successfully demonstrated. The incorporation of luminescent species, such as laser dyes, was demonstrated using a new wet chemical coating technique that forms thin silica layers on a substrate.\nPart II discusses the modification of spontaneous emission in one dimensional systems by studying the decay rate of luminescing Cr ions close to a dielectric interface. The decay rate of the Cr ions can be changed by bringing the samples into contact with a range of liquids with different refractive indices. The change in radiative decay rate can be calculated by calculating the local density of states. To explain the experimental results additional non-radiative decay channels have to be introduced and yields a quantum efficiency of ~50% for the Cr R-line luminescence. This concept was further extended to a thin silica layer on silicon implanted with erbium ions and resulted in the radiative rate of erbium in pure silica: 54 s-1. This number was used to analyze the decay rate of erbium ions in silica colloidal spheres that can be used as building block for three-dimensional photonic crystals by self-assembly.\nFinally, Part III discusses the optical properties and modified spontaneous emission from a three-dimensional silicon photonic crystal of finite (5-layers) thickness. The crystals are made in a layer-by-layer approach using lithographic tools and show near 100% reflection in the 1.4-1.7 mu m wavelength range indicative of a photonic stopgap. A direct comparison with the calculated reflectivity reveals that some features in the reflectivity can be ascribed to the finite thickness of the crystal, while other features can be explained in terms of a superstructure that leads to zone folding of the photonic bandstructure. The collected spontaneous emission from erbium implanted crystals is strongly reduced for wavelengths in the stopgap from 1.4-1.7 mu m. The changes in collected luminescence intensity are explained in terms of a rate equation model that takes into account the effect of Bragg scattering, the local density of states and the quantum efficiency of the emitters inside the crystal. Using this model a spectral attenuation of 5 dB per unit cell at 1.539 mu m wavelength is obtained from the experimental data, which is in perfect agreement with existing theory and transmission data.