Square lattice photonic crystal point-shifted nanocavity with lowest-order whispering-gallery mode

Abstract

We propose a point-shifted nanocavity based on square lattice photonic crystal, which sustains a lowest-order whispering-gallery (WG) mode. In simulation, the optimized WG mode (quality (Q) factor similar to 14,000) in point-shifted nanocavity can be with smaller mode volume (similar to 5.5(lambda/2n)(3)) but larger nano-post tolerance than those in single-defect cavity design. From well-fabricated device, single WG mode lasing with measured Q factor of 4,100 and low threshold of 160 mu W is obtained. Besides, we also observe the changed polarization of WG mode due to modal symmetry breaking caused by the presence of a nearby dielectric nano-particle, which would be useful in sensing molecule binding or attaching for bio-chemical applications. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America