Photonic Nanobeam Cavities with Nanopockets for Efficient Integration of Fluorescent Nanoparticles
Johannes E. Fröch, Sejeong Kim, Connor Stewart, Xiaoxue Xu, Ziqing Du, Mark Lockrey, Milos Toth, Igor Aharonovich
Abstract
, small mode volume cavities is indispensable for nanophotonics and quantum technologies. To date, nanoparticles have largely been coupled to evanescent fields of cavity modes, which limits the strength of the interaction. Here, we developed both a cavity design and a fabrication method that enable efficient coupling between a fluorescent nanoparticle and a cavity optical mode. The design consists of a fishbone-shaped, one-dimensional photonic crystal cavity with a nanopocket located at the electric field maximum of the fundamental optical mode. Furthermore, the presence of a nanoparticle inside the pocket reduces the mode volume substantially and induces subwavelength light confinement. Our approach opens exciting pathways to achieve tight light confinement around fluorescent nanoparticles for applications in energy, sensing, lasing, and quantum technologies.