Research Media
Hyperuniform disordered photonic band gap devices for silicon photonics
Milošević, Milan M., Marian Florescu, Weining Man, Geev Nahal, Sam Tsitrin, Timothy Amoah, Paul J. Steinhardt, Salvatore Torquato, Paul M. Chaikin, and Ruth Ann Mullen. We report experimental and simulation results for silicon waveguides and resonant cavities in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids. Our results demonstrate the ability of disordered photonic bandgap materials to serve as a platform for silicon photonics.
Hyperuniform disordered photonic band gap silicon devices for optical interconnects
Milan M. Milošević1, Marian Florescu, Weining Man, Geev Nahal, Sam Tsitrin, Timothy Amoah, Paul J. Steinhardt, Salvatore Torquato, Paul M. Chaikin, Ruth Ann Mullen. We report experimental and simulation results for silicon waveguides and devices in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids. Our results demonstrate the ability of disordered photonic bandgap materials to serve as a platform for optical integrated circuits.
Silicon waveguides and filters in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids for the near-infrared
Milan M. Milošević1, Marian Florescu, Weining Man, Paul J. Steinhardt, Salvatore Torquato, Paul M. Chaikin, Timothy Amoah, Geev Nahal, Ruth Ann Mullen. We report preliminary results for silicon waveguides and devices in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids. Temperature sensitivity of resonant defects is more than 500 times lower than that of the standard silicon microring resonators.
Isotropic band gaps, optical cavities, and freeform waveguides in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids
Marian Florescu, Weining Man, Ruth Ann Mullen, Milan M. Milosevic, Timothy Amoah, Paul M. Chaikin, Salvatore Torquato, Paul Steinhardt. Hyperuniform disordered solids are a new class of designer photonic materials with large isotropic band gaps comparable to those found in photonic crystals. The hyperuniform disordered materials are statistically isotropic and possess a controllable constrained randomness. We have employed their unique properties to introduce novel architectures for optical cavities that achieve an ultimate isotropic confinement of radiation, and waveguides with arbitrary bending angles. Our experiments demonstrate low-loss waveguiding in submicron scale Si-based hyperuniform structures operating at infrared wavelengths and open the way for the realization of highly flexible, disorder-insensitive optical micro-circuit platforms.
New Designer Dielectric Metamaterial with Isotropic Photonic Band Gap
Geev Nahal, Weining Man, Marian Florescu, Paul J. Steinhardt, Sal Torquato, Paul M. Chaikin, and Ruth Ann Mullen. A new designer dielectric metamaterial featuring an isotropic photonic bandgap at 1550 nm wavelength designed as a finite thickness, 220 nm thick 2d slab, is fabricated in a CMOS-compatible silicon-on-insulator process. This “hyperuniform disordered
Advancing photonic functionalities
Paul Steinhardt, Salvatore Torquato, Marian Florescu. Discussion of hyperuniform materials use in the development of hyperuniform disordered solids, garnering better theoretical understanding of the physical properties of non-crystalline materials
Novel silicon waveguides and modulators via hyperuniform disordered platforms
W. Man, M. M. Milošević, G. Nahal, T. Amoah, P. J. Steinhardt, S. Torquato, R. A. Mullen, M. Florescu, “Novel silicon waveguides and modulators via hyperuniform disordered platforms,” in 20th Optoelectronics and Communication Conference, Shanghai, China, 2015.
We report simulation and experimental results for waveguides and modulators in planar hyperuniform disordered solids (HUDS). Our results highlight HUDS materials’ ability to serve as highly compact, flexible and energy-efficient platforms for photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
PNAS publications
Designer disordered materials with large, complete photonic band gaps
Marian Florescu, Salvatore Torquato, Paul J. Steinhardt. We present designs of 2D, isotropic, disordered, photonic materials of arbitrary size with complete band gaps blocking all directions and polarizations. The designs with the largest band gaps are obtained by a constrained optimization method that starts from a hyperuniform disordered point pattern, an array of points whose number variance within a spherical sampling window grows more slowly than the volume. We argue that hyperuniformity, combined with uniform local topology and short-range geometric order, can explain how complete photonic band gaps are possible without long-range translational order. We note the ramifications for electronic and phononic band gaps in disordered materials.
Isotropic band gaps and freeform waveguides observed in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids
Weining Man, Marian Florescu , Eric Paul Williamson , Yingquan He , Seyed Reza Hashemiza, Brian Y. C. Leung, Devin Robert Liner, Salvatore Torquatoc, Paul M. Chaikin, and Paul J. Steinhardt. Recently, disordered photonic media and random textured surfaces have attracted increasing attention as strong light diffusers with broadband and wide-angle properties. We report the experimental realization of an isotropic complete photonic band gap (PBG) in a 2D disordered dielectric structure. This structure is designed by a constrained optimization method, which combines advantages of both isotropy due to disorder and controlled scattering properties due to low-density fluctuations (hyperuniformity) and uniform local topology. Our experiments use a modular design composed of Al2O3 walls and cylinders arranged in a hyperuniform disordered network. We observe a complete PBG in the microwave region, in good agreement with theoretical simulations, and show that the intrinsic isotropy of this unique class of PBG materials enables remarkable design freedom, including the realization of waveguides with arbitrary bending angles impossible in photonic crystals. This experimental verification of a complete PBG and realization of functional defects in this unique class of materials demonstrate their potential as building blocks for precise manipulation of photons in planar optical microcircuits and has implications for disordered acoustic and electronic band gap materials.
Photonic band gap in isotropic hyperuniform disordered solids with low dielectric contrast
Weining Man, Marian Florescu, Kazue Matsuyama, Polin Yadak, Geev Nahal, Seyed Hashemizad, Eric Williamson, Paul Steinhardt, Salvatore Torquato, and Paul Chaikin. We report the first experimental demonstration of a TEpolarization photonic band gap (PBG) in a 2D isotropic hyperuniform disordered solid (HUDS) made of dielectric media with a dielectric index contrast of 1.6:1, very low for PBG formation. The solid is composed of a connected network of dielectric walls enclosing air-filled cells. Direct comparison with photonic crystals and quasicrystals permitted us to investigate band-gap properties as a function of increasing rotational isotropy. We present results from numerical simulations proving that the PBG observed experimentally for HUDS at low index contrast has zero density of states. The PBG is associated with the energy difference between complementary resonant modes above and below the gap, with the field predominantly concentrated in the air or in the dielectric. The intrinsic isotropy of HUDS may offer unprecedented flexibilities and freedom in applications. (i. e. defect architecture design) not limited by crystalline symmetries.
Optical cavities and waveguides in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids
Marian Florescu, Paul J. Steinhardt, and Salvatore Torquato. Using finite-difference time domain and band structure computer simulations, we show that it is possible to construct optical cavities and waveguide architectures in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids that are unattainable in photonic crystals. The cavity modes can be classified according to the symmetry (monopole, dipole, quadrupole, etc.) of the confined electromagnetic wave pattern. Owing to the isotropy of the band-gap characteristics of hyperuniform disordered solids, high-quality waveguides with free-form geometries (e.g., arbitrary bending angles) can be constructed that are unprecedented in periodic or quasiperiodic solids. These capabilities have implications for many photonic applications.