Optical fibers functionalized with photonic crystal cavities

Applications

• Biological or chemical refractive index or near-field sensors
• Nanoparticle sensor for biomedicine
• Raman or fluorescence spectroscopy collection probe
• Near-field point source of illumination device
• Fiber-coupled nonlinear optics element
• Ultra-compact device sandwiched between two separate fibers
• Optically pumped photonic crystal lasers or LEDs coupled to fibers
• Single photon emitters such as quantum dots or nitrogen-vacancy centers coupled to fibers

Advantages

• Rapid, simple, and inexpensive without the complexities of other assembly techniques such as micromanipulation inside of a focused ion beam chamber
• Avoids potential material contamination from exposure to high energy electrons or ions
• Compatible with all material types
• Flexible platform allows for integration of many diverse photonic functionalities

Publications

• Gary Shambat, J. Provine, Kelley Rivoire, Tomas Sarmiento, James Harris, and Jelena Vuckovic. "Optical fiber tips functionalized with semiconductor photonic crystal cavities" Applied Physics Letters, 7 November 2011.
• Gary Shambat, Sri Rajasekhar Kothapalli, Aman Khurana, J Provine, Tomas Sarmiento, Kai Cheng, Zhen Cheng, James Harris, Heike Daldrup-Link, Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, and Jelena Vuckovic, "A photonic crystal cavity-optical fiber tip nanoparticle sensor for biomedical applications" arXiv, preprint submitted 3 April 2012.

<b>Ongoing Research</b>

The inventors are currently conducting related research in the following areas:

• Development of a spectroscopy device for enhancing the emission and collection of Raman or fluorescence signals from biological samples
• Investigating the near-field and refractive index sensitivity of cavities when brought close to surfaces and when submerged in fluids
• Attaching optically pumped lasers and nonlinear devices onto the optical fiber tips

Patents

• Published Application: 20130039616
• Issued: 9,588,254 (USA)