Principal Investigator :

Gonzague AGEZ ()
CEMES (Groupe NéO – Nano-optique et nanomatériaux pour l'optique)

Type of project : Disruptive Project

Date (start/end) : 2016 - 2018

     

       

Abstract

The µBEAM project aims to elaborate microlaser arrays regularly distributed inside a thin film (less than 100 µm). The material constituting the  thin layer possesses a periodical bulk structuration with a specific geometry (Fig. a) only reachable via soft matter tailoring. The photonic structure elaborated will conbine two functions :

1 - To structure an incident plane wave into a regular pattern of microchannels (Fig. b and c)

2 - To be an optical cavity in order to stimulate the fluorescence of a dye-doped  liquid crystal and generate laser emission along the predefined microchannels.

Both effects take advantage of ultrarefactive properties expected for the wavelengths located on the band edge of the photonic bandgap. The strategy will be to target a specific optical behaviour (microlenses, confined or donut-like modes) and to find the associated photonic structure via FDTD numerical simulation (Finite-Difference Time-Domain). The material elaboration will be achieved with cholesteric liquid crystal.

The final material will be a substrate able to deliver and concentrate light energy on  hotspots regularly distributed onto the substrate surface. This project aims to develop active optical materials where near-field laser source and nanostructures can be collated in a single microdevice. Applications are envisioned in the field of plasmonic nano-antennas and enhanced spectroscopy