Waveguide cores containing silicon nanocrystals as active spectral filters for silicon-based photonics

• DOI: 10.1007/s00340-005-2118-5
• Publication Date: 2006-01-16T17:25:12Z
• Authors: I. Pelant; T. Ostatnický; J. Valenta; K. Luterová; E. Skopalová; T. Mates; R.G. Elliman
• Keywords: Optical waveguides; Silicon; Keywords: Nanostructured materials; Spontaneous emission; Waveguide cores; Optical fibers; 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; 7. Clean energy; Spectrum analysis; Nanocrystals

Layers of densely packed luminescent Si nanocrystals embedded in fused silica act as wavelength-specific planar waveguides that filter the wide-band spontaneous emission. The waveguides’ light output consists of two spectrally narrow (∼10 nm), orthogonally polarized, and spatially directed bands. This effect is shown to result from leaky modes of the lossy waveguides. The results have general applicability to lossy, asymmetric waveguides and show the way to produce spectrally narrow emission without the use of optical cavities.