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Movable high-Q nanoresonators realized by semiconductor nanowires on a Si photonic crystal platform

Nature Materials volume 13, pages 279–285 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Subwavelength semiconductor nanowires have recently attracted interest for photonic applications because they possess various unique optical properties and offer great potential for miniaturizing devices. However, realizing tight light confinement or efficient coupling with photonic circuits is not straightforward and remains a challenge. Here we show that a high-Q nanocavity can be created by placing a single III–V semiconductor nanowire with a diameter of under 100 nm in a grooved waveguide in a Si photonic crystal, by means of nanoprobe manipulation. We observe very fast spontaneous emission (91 ps) from nanowires accelerated by the strong Purcell enhancement in nanocavities, which proves that very strong light confinement can be achieved. Furthermore, this system enables us to move the nanocavity anywhere along the waveguide. This configuration provides a significant degree of flexibility in integrated photonics and permits the addition and displacement of various functionalities of III–V nanocavity devices in Si photonic circuits.

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Figure 1: A movable hybrid cavity and emitter in a photonic crystal and NWs.
Figure 2: Manipulation of a single NW and PL characterization.
Figure 3: Observation of a movable cavity at three different positions.
Figure 4: Emission rate enhancement for different Qexp/V values.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge S. Fujiura and M. Ono for assistance with the NW manipulation and W.J. Munro for discussions.

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Author notes

  1. Muhammad Danang Birowosuto

    Present address: Present address: Applied Physics Department, Universitas Siswa Bangsa Internasional, Jakarta, Indonesia.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1 Morinosato Wakamiya Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan,

    Muhammad Danang Birowosuto, Atsushi Yokoo, Guoqiang Zhang, Kouta Tateno, Eiichi Kuramochi, Hideaki Taniyama, Masato Takiguchi & Masaya Notomi

  2. NTT Nanophotonics Center, NTT Corporation, 3-1 Morinosato Wakamiya Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan,

    Muhammad Danang Birowosuto, Atsushi Yokoo, Eiichi Kuramochi, Hideaki Taniyama, Masato Takiguchi & Masaya Notomi

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Contributions

M.D.B., A.Y., G.Z. and M.N. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. M.D.B. performed the simulation, conducted the experiments and analysed the data. M.D.B. and M.N. wrote the manuscript. A.Y. manipulated the nanowires. K.T. conducted the NW growth. G.Z. and E.K. were involved in the fabrication processes. M.T. supported the experiments. H.T. supported the simulation. M.N. guided the project.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masaya Notomi.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Birowosuto, M., Yokoo, A., Zhang, G. et al. Movable high-Q nanoresonators realized by semiconductor nanowires on a Si photonic crystal platform. Nature Mater 13, 279–285 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3873

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