Physics Colloquium, April 15, 2003

Photonic Band Gap Materials: Semiconductors of Light

Sajeev John

Department of Physics
University of Toronto, Canada

Three dimensional (3D) photonic band gap (PBG) materials enable both the localization of light and the engineering the electromagnetic vacuum on an all-optical micro-chip. This has important implications for basic science and offers applications in integrated optics. We describe an architecture for broadband, single-mode, air-waveguide micro-circuits of light in a 3D PBG material.  In addition to diffraction-less flow of light through micron-scale bends, this architecture enables the integration of novel active devices on-chip. By engineering very abrupt changes in the electromagnetic density of states as a function of frequency, near an active region of the micro-chip, new types of optical switching effects may be realized. One possibility is an all-optical micro-transistor which does not suffer from the usual trade-off between switching time and switching threshold.

3.30 p.m., Smith Laboratory, Room 1005

Refreshments served in Smith 1094 at 3:00 p.m.