Intellectual Merit: The objective of this research is to develop a programmable, reconfigurable, and tunable photonic circuit platform and to explore its smart sensor applications. The platform will allow one to dynamically configure/reconfigure, tune/detune, and erase/rewrite photonic circuits on a single chip upon demand. The approach is combining nano-electro-mechanical systems and planar photonic crystal technologies to manipulate light on the wavelength scale. Nanocantilevers are fabricated over air holes in a photonic crystal slab. Each nanocantilever is individually controllable to bend into an air hole via an electrostatic actuator addressed by electronic integrated circuits. Therefore, local effective refractive indices of photonic lattices can be tuned and programmed flexibly to form various photonic devices and circuits. The smart sensors can be realized by chemically modifying the surface of nanocantilevers on the photonic circuit platform, making it sensitive to specific analytes mechanically. Through dynamic tuning of the photonic platform, the sensors can be agile enough to tune their internal optical circuits to adapt to different situations and requirements.
Broader Impacts: This research will provide an unprecedented photonic circuit platform with unique reconfigurablity, tunability and programmability to satisfy the demand for multipurpose and compact photonic chips. The proposed technology could revolutionize photonic circuit design, and open up drastically new possibilities in a broad range of areas, including photonic computing, optical communication, environmental monitoring, biochemical defense, and lab-on-a-chip technologies, thus having great potential economic impact. This research will generate broad educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, benefit curriculum development, and provide opportunities for students to work on research projects at both university and industrial laboratories. A pyramid structure for educational outreach will be established to provide an efficient way to introduce micro/nanotechnology into high schools, middle schools, and grade schools of Iowa. Women and minority students will be attracted into science and engineering through year-round open-lab tours, summer internships, and in-class presentations.
