Nanotechnology Fabrication Commons^™

Designing Enhanced Nonlinearity In Plasmonic Devices With Epsilon-Near-Zero Films, Kevin Tran Le

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MS) Theses

The growing demand for energy-efficient optical information processing motivates compact nonlinear photonic devices that can operate at low power. Silicon photonics is a mature platform for linear optical functions, but nonlinear operation remains challenging because of its weak Kerr response, two-photon absorption at telecommunication wavelengths, and limited compatibility with deeply subwavelength plasmonic confinement. This thesis computationally investigates epsilon-near-zero thin films integrated into plasmonic waveguide architectures as a route toward stronger light–matter interaction in compact nonlinear devices.

Two waveguide geometries are examined: a hybrid metal-insulator-metal plasmonic slab waveguide incorporating an ultrathin indium tin oxide epsilon-near-zero layer (5–50 nm), and a dielectric-loaded …

Guided-Mode Resonant Nanopatterns For Raman Generation And Photonic Devices, Renjie Chen

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation explores advanced strategies for enhancing Raman amplification in silicon photonic devices, focusing on guided-mode resonance engineering and resonant mode manipulation. Silicon, despite its indirect bandgap, exhibits a strong Raman scattering coefficient, enabling it to function as a viable gain medium for integrated photonic systems. However, the realization of efficient, compact, and low-threshold silicon Raman amplifiers and lasers necessitates innovative design approaches that overcome inherent material and structural limitations.

The first chapter provides a fundamental overview of optics, including physical principles, spectral characteristics, guided-mode resonance, simulation methods, and nanopattern fabrication methods.

The second chapter delves into silicon-based Raman amplification …

Ellipticity-Controlled Exceptional Points From Nanoscale Metasurfaces, Benjamin Goldberg

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Precise control over light polarization is critical for advancing technologies in telecommunica- tions, quantum computing, and image sensing. However, existing methods for manipulating polarization around exceptional points in non-Hermitian systems, have exclusively focused on circular polarization and work with reflected light. To address this limitation, we de- velop a novel metasurface platform with high-Q resonators that enables tunable control of polarization exceptional points across arbitrary ellipticity for transmitted light. Our design uses orthogonally polarized guided mode resonators in a two-layer silicon metasurface, where careful tuning of the dipolar guided mode resonances (DGMRs) and layer spacing allows us to control the …

A Comprehensive Exploration Of Fundamental And Experimental Characteristics Of Nanophotonic Metasurfaces, Nasrin Razmjooei

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The advent of diffraction gratings with periodic unit cells has led to numerous advancements in theoretical studies and practical applications. Recently, these structures have been recognized as subsets of “meta-surfaces” or “meta-materials”, employing periodically aligned features at the wavelength scale to manipulate electromagnetic wave properties for diverse applications. This manipulation extends to controlling amplitude, phase, spectral distribution, polarization state, and the local mode structure of light across various spectral expressions. A significant characteristic of these metasurfaces is their ability to couple incident light to laterally propagating leaky Bloch modes in the subwavelength regime, resulting in resonance at specific wavelengths known …

Implementing Commercial Inverse Design Tools For Compact, Phase-Encoded, Plasmonic Digital Logic Devices, Michael Efseaff, Kyle Wynne, Krishna Narayan, Mark C. Harrison

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Numerical simulations have become an essential design tool in the field of photonics, especially for nanophotonics. In particular, 3D finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulations are popular for their powerful design capabilities. Increasingly, researchers are developing or using inverse design tools to improve device footprints and performance. These tools often make use of 3D FDTD simulations and the adjoint optimization method. We implement a commercial inverse design tool with these features for several plasmonic devices that push the boundaries of the tool. We design a logic gate with complex design requirements as well as a y-splitter and waveguide crossing. With minimal code changes, …

Fabricating Nanophotonic Devices Using Nanofabrication Techniques, Scott Cummings

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Nanofabrication processes are widely used to make the integrated circuits and computer chips that are ubiquitous in today’s technology. These fabrication processes can also be applied to the creation of nanophotonic devices. The ways in which we apply these fabrication techniques in the field of photonics is often constrained by the technologies used for electronics manufacturing which presents an interesting engineering challenge. These limitations include availability and cost of certain fabrication equipment and techniques required to create state-of-the-art nanophotonic devices. Through work with the University of California Irvine nano-fabrication cleanroom, we designed and fabricated various integrated photonic components including grating …

Nonlinear Nanophotonic Devices In The Ultraviolet To Visible Wavelength Range, Jinghan He, Hong Chen, Jin Hu, Jingan Zhou, Yingmu Zhang, Andre Kovach, Constantine Sideris, Mark C. Harrison, Yuji Zhao, Andrea M. Armani

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Although the first lasers invented operated in the visible, the first on-chip devices were optimized for near-infrared (IR) performance driven by demand in telecommunications. However, as the applications of integrated photonics has broadened, the wavelength demand has as well, and we are now returning to the visible (Vis) and pushing into the ultraviolet (UV). This shift has required innovations in device design and in materials as well as leveraging nonlinear behavior to reach these wavelengths. This review discusses the key nonlinear phenomena that can be used as well as presents several emerging material systems and devices that have reached the …