The video clip shows an open access microcavity immersed in isopropyl alcohol, which is gradually... more The video clip shows an open access microcavity immersed in isopropyl alcohol, which is gradually evaporating. The microcavity is excited by a fixed laser which has been tuned to excite the fundamental resonant mode. This mode is only supported when the cavity is filled with the fluid, and disappears once the fluid evaporates.
The video clip shows a sequence of 4 droplets of hexane being dispensed onto an open-access micro... more The video clip shows a sequence of 4 droplets of hexane being dispensed onto an open-access microcavity, with rapid evaporation of the hexane in between. The cavity is excited by a fixed wavelength laser and exhibits distinct transitions between two resonant optical modes depending on whether it is filled with hexane or not.
We conducted a theoretical study on the potential use of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) ... more We conducted a theoretical study on the potential use of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) as the high-index material in quarter-wave-stack Bragg mirrors for cavity quantum electrodynamics applications. Compared to conventionally employed Ta2O5, a-Si:H provides a much higher-index contrast with SiO2, thus promising significantly reduced layer-number requirements and a smaller mode volume. Silicon-based mirrors offer the additional advantage of providing a wide omnidirectional reflection band, which allows greater control of the background electromagnetic modes. From numerical studies at 850 nm, we show that a-Si:H-based mirrors could enable significant improvements with respect to maximum Purcell factor, cooperativity, and spontaneous emission coupling factor, in addition to their potential to reduce fabrication complexity. These advantages are anticipated to be even more compelling at longer wavelengths.
We describe curved-mirror Fabry-Perot cavities with embedded silicon nitride membranes, fabricate... more We describe curved-mirror Fabry-Perot cavities with embedded silicon nitride membranes, fabricated using a monolithic surface-micromachining process. The presence of the suspended membranes was confirmed by confocal microscopy, and their properties were verified through optical studies and thermomechanical calibration of mechanical/vibrational noise spectra measured at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The cavities exhibit reflectance-limited finesse (F ∼ 103) and wavelength-scale mode volumes (VM ∼ 10·λ3). The short cavity length (L ∼ 2·λ) results in large optomechanical coupling, which is desirable for numerous applications in sensing and quantum information.
We describe a monolithic approach to fabricating large-scale arrays of high-finesse and low-mode-... more We describe a monolithic approach to fabricating large-scale arrays of high-finesse and low-mode-volume Fabry-Perot microcavities with open access to the air core. A stress-driven buckling self-assembly technique was used to form half-symmetric curved-mirror cavities, and a dry etching process was subsequently used to create micropores through the upper mirror. We show that the cavities retain excellent optical properties, with reflectance-limited finesse ∼2500 and highly predictable Laguerre-Gaussian modes. We furthermore demonstrate the ability to introduce liquids into the cavity region by microinjection through the pores. Applications in sensing, optofluidics, and cavity quantum electrodynamics are envisioned.
This thesis describes the design, fabrication, morphological overview, optical characterization, ... more This thesis describes the design, fabrication, morphological overview, optical characterization, and fluid infiltration of 'open-access', small mode-volume, and high quality-factor Fabry-Perot micro-cavities in the telecommunication range followed by the simulation of a-Si:H/SiO 2-based Bragg mirrors for submicron range devices. First I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Ray DeCorby and Dr. Lindsay LeBlanc. Your acumen, expertise, and patience has been invaluable over the course of this work, and because of your guidance I've done more than I thought possible. To Dr. DeCorby, thank you for always pushing me toward a better and more precise understanding of optics and experimentation. Your help in guiding and editing this thesis was indispensable, the 'fits and starts' turned into a full story with your help. To Dr. LeBlanc, thank you supporting me through both my degrees and for encouraging me to become a better person and researcher. Thank you for sharing your experimental and theoretical knowledge and for your patience whenever I had a question, at the end of class or otherwise. Your uniquely kind leadership has always insured a welcome and safe environment for everyone, whether it be in the lab, classroom, office, or curling club. To the past and present members of the Integrated Optics lab group, thank you all. Thank you to Sanaa al-Sumaidae for all your help on the fabrication and experimental portion, and for providing good conversation while we worked. Thank you to Tim Harrison and Graham Horning, for encouraging me to increase my presision in all realms of fabrication and for providing feedback when I was stuck on a problem. Thank you to Dr. Mohammadhossein Bitarafan for providing a welcoming environment to every new student and for providing a strong foundation upon which the experimental work in this thesis was built. Thank you to Clinton Potts, your thesis provided the theoretical v precursor for the cQED application of this work. Thank you to Dr. Seyed Azmayesh-Fard, Danny Pulikkaseril, Kyle Scheuer, and Lintong Bu for your patience as I "try to get the alignment just right" and for providing different perspectives on problems that arose. To Dr. Gil Porat, thank you for your mentorship, both in career advice and with regards to professional skills. Thank you for the time, good humour, and the experience you shared. Thank you to all of the members of the LeBlanc Lab for making me feel welcome in the physics department and for sharing your incredible insight, knowledge, and curiosity with me. And thank you to all the nanoFAB staff for your expertise, these devices would not exist without your help. In particular, thank you to Scott Munro for your constant help with the Cobra system and to Stephanie Bozic for all the training and for the insight into the photo-lithography process. Thank you to my family and friends for your constant encouragement and patience as I completed this. I'm a very different person now than when I started this degree, and I'm a better man because of all of you. To my partner, Marita Obst, who has listened to me intently during this whole project and is the very best editor I could have check my work: thank you so much for your love, intuition, and diligence. This thesis would not exist as it does without your help. To my Mom, Brenda Schulze, thank you for always believing in me, through all of my seasons. Thank you for always being interested in what I wanted to talk about at the kitchen island after school, this is in no small part because of you. Thank you to the Quanta program for giving me the additional resources and opportunities to push myself, surrounded by incredible peers.
The video clip shows an open access microcavity immersed in isopropyl alcohol, which is gradually... more The video clip shows an open access microcavity immersed in isopropyl alcohol, which is gradually evaporating. The microcavity is excited by a fixed laser which has been tuned to excite the fundamental resonant mode. This mode is only supported when the cavity is filled with the fluid, and disappears once the fluid evaporates.
The video clip shows a sequence of 4 droplets of hexane being dispensed onto an open-access micro... more The video clip shows a sequence of 4 droplets of hexane being dispensed onto an open-access microcavity, with rapid evaporation of the hexane in between. The cavity is excited by a fixed wavelength laser and exhibits distinct transitions between two resonant optical modes depending on whether it is filled with hexane or not.
We conducted a theoretical study on the potential use of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) ... more We conducted a theoretical study on the potential use of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) as the high-index material in quarter-wave-stack Bragg mirrors for cavity quantum electrodynamics applications. Compared to conventionally employed Ta2O5, a-Si:H provides a much higher-index contrast with SiO2, thus promising significantly reduced layer-number requirements and a smaller mode volume. Silicon-based mirrors offer the additional advantage of providing a wide omnidirectional reflection band, which allows greater control of the background electromagnetic modes. From numerical studies at 850 nm, we show that a-Si:H-based mirrors could enable significant improvements with respect to maximum Purcell factor, cooperativity, and spontaneous emission coupling factor, in addition to their potential to reduce fabrication complexity. These advantages are anticipated to be even more compelling at longer wavelengths.
We describe curved-mirror Fabry-Perot cavities with embedded silicon nitride membranes, fabricate... more We describe curved-mirror Fabry-Perot cavities with embedded silicon nitride membranes, fabricated using a monolithic surface-micromachining process. The presence of the suspended membranes was confirmed by confocal microscopy, and their properties were verified through optical studies and thermomechanical calibration of mechanical/vibrational noise spectra measured at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The cavities exhibit reflectance-limited finesse (F ∼ 103) and wavelength-scale mode volumes (VM ∼ 10·λ3). The short cavity length (L ∼ 2·λ) results in large optomechanical coupling, which is desirable for numerous applications in sensing and quantum information.
We describe a monolithic approach to fabricating large-scale arrays of high-finesse and low-mode-... more We describe a monolithic approach to fabricating large-scale arrays of high-finesse and low-mode-volume Fabry-Perot microcavities with open access to the air core. A stress-driven buckling self-assembly technique was used to form half-symmetric curved-mirror cavities, and a dry etching process was subsequently used to create micropores through the upper mirror. We show that the cavities retain excellent optical properties, with reflectance-limited finesse ∼2500 and highly predictable Laguerre-Gaussian modes. We furthermore demonstrate the ability to introduce liquids into the cavity region by microinjection through the pores. Applications in sensing, optofluidics, and cavity quantum electrodynamics are envisioned.
This thesis describes the design, fabrication, morphological overview, optical characterization, ... more This thesis describes the design, fabrication, morphological overview, optical characterization, and fluid infiltration of 'open-access', small mode-volume, and high quality-factor Fabry-Perot micro-cavities in the telecommunication range followed by the simulation of a-Si:H/SiO 2-based Bragg mirrors for submicron range devices. First I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Ray DeCorby and Dr. Lindsay LeBlanc. Your acumen, expertise, and patience has been invaluable over the course of this work, and because of your guidance I've done more than I thought possible. To Dr. DeCorby, thank you for always pushing me toward a better and more precise understanding of optics and experimentation. Your help in guiding and editing this thesis was indispensable, the 'fits and starts' turned into a full story with your help. To Dr. LeBlanc, thank you supporting me through both my degrees and for encouraging me to become a better person and researcher. Thank you for sharing your experimental and theoretical knowledge and for your patience whenever I had a question, at the end of class or otherwise. Your uniquely kind leadership has always insured a welcome and safe environment for everyone, whether it be in the lab, classroom, office, or curling club. To the past and present members of the Integrated Optics lab group, thank you all. Thank you to Sanaa al-Sumaidae for all your help on the fabrication and experimental portion, and for providing good conversation while we worked. Thank you to Tim Harrison and Graham Horning, for encouraging me to increase my presision in all realms of fabrication and for providing feedback when I was stuck on a problem. Thank you to Dr. Mohammadhossein Bitarafan for providing a welcoming environment to every new student and for providing a strong foundation upon which the experimental work in this thesis was built. Thank you to Clinton Potts, your thesis provided the theoretical v precursor for the cQED application of this work. Thank you to Dr. Seyed Azmayesh-Fard, Danny Pulikkaseril, Kyle Scheuer, and Lintong Bu for your patience as I "try to get the alignment just right" and for providing different perspectives on problems that arose. To Dr. Gil Porat, thank you for your mentorship, both in career advice and with regards to professional skills. Thank you for the time, good humour, and the experience you shared. Thank you to all of the members of the LeBlanc Lab for making me feel welcome in the physics department and for sharing your incredible insight, knowledge, and curiosity with me. And thank you to all the nanoFAB staff for your expertise, these devices would not exist without your help. In particular, thank you to Scott Munro for your constant help with the Cobra system and to Stephanie Bozic for all the training and for the insight into the photo-lithography process. Thank you to my family and friends for your constant encouragement and patience as I completed this. I'm a very different person now than when I started this degree, and I'm a better man because of all of you. To my partner, Marita Obst, who has listened to me intently during this whole project and is the very best editor I could have check my work: thank you so much for your love, intuition, and diligence. This thesis would not exist as it does without your help. To my Mom, Brenda Schulze, thank you for always believing in me, through all of my seasons. Thank you for always being interested in what I wanted to talk about at the kitchen island after school, this is in no small part because of you. Thank you to the Quanta program for giving me the additional resources and opportunities to push myself, surrounded by incredible peers.
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