Integrated Optical Cavites
Tadeus Liska with Jesse Berezovsky
Liska Berezovsky 2013
Spintronics is an emerging field with numerous applications including quantum computing of which a key component is the ability to monitor the spin state of a system. Such monitoring can be achieved optically using spin-photon interactions such as the Faraday rotation. Optical cavities provide an approach to enhancing the efficiency of such measurements by exploitation of the Purcell effect. We have simulated photonic crystals in the form of distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) consisting of alternating layers of SiO2 and TiO2 using the MEEP simulation environment and transfer matrix calculations. By destroying the symmetry of our structure through the incorporation of a defect we show that this leads to a normal mode at 600nm. Subsequently we have begun the fabrication of our resonant crystal with an optimized design of fourteen stacks determined by harmonic analysis of the simulations. Additionally, we plan to incorporate CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots (QDs) in the defect layer so as to be able to initialize a spin density through optical pumping and observe the Faraday rotation of a linearly polarized pulse. The Bragg reflector cavity is being constructed in the MORE center using elec-tron beam physical vapor deposition and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Once complete it will be tested in the Berezovsky lab, measuring parameters such as the cavity Q-factor, Purcell factor enhancement, and Faraday rotation.