Abstract

We have developed techniques to fabricate photonic crystals within functional semiconductor materials to reflect, polarise, and filter light. These manufacturable structures have now allowed us to define high-contrast polarizing beam-splitters and ultra-small optical cavities, and hold the promise of many exciting new applications. Polarizers with over 820:1 TE/TM transmission ratios have been fabricated by microfabricating gratings through a 1-D multilayer Bragg mirror, thereby forming an in-plane 2-D photonic bandgap crystal. Ultra-small optical cavities have also been defined by perforating very thin InGaAsP/InGaAs membranes with 2-D photonic crystals to define in-plane optical resonators. Here, we will describe the fabrication methods and the observed performance of these devices.

© 1998 Optical Society of America