Nanometer-scale photon confinement in topology-optimized dielectric cavities.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36271087.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-33874-w and PMC identifier 9587274.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Nanotechnology enables in principle a precise mapping from design to device but relied so far on human intuition and simple optimizations. In nanophotonics, a central question is how to make devices in which the light-matter interaction strength is limited only by materials and nanofabrication. Here, we integrate measured fabrication constraints into topology optimization, aiming for the strongest possible light-matter interaction in a compact silicon membrane, demonstrating an unprecedented photonic nanocavity with a mode volume of V ~ 3 × 10<sup>-4</sup> λ<sup>3</sup>, quality factor Q ~ 1100, and footprint 4 λ<sup>2</sup> for telecom photons with a λ ~ 1550 nm wavelength. We fabricate the cavity, which confines photons inside 8 nm silicon bridges with ultra-high aspect ratios of 30 and use near-field optical measurements to perform the first experimental demonstration of photon confinement to a single hotspot well below the diffraction limit in dielectrics. Our framework intertwines topology optimization with fabrication and thereby initiates a new paradigm of high-performance additive and subtractive manufacturing.