Abstracts

This thesis presents an effort to model, fabricate,and characterize optically-resonant periodic electrode (ORPEL)structures. The interconnect between electronic components is amajor problem that is hindering further improvements in moderncommunication systems. The realization of low-costwavelength-selective detectors and wavelength-selective opticalswitches/modulators would be a major step toward a solution to thisproblem. Clearly, any "all-optical" technology will likely needsome form of electronic control mechanism. An ORPEL structure is aninterdigitated array of metal fingers, with its period chosen tosatisfy specific resonances. The use of silicon on insulator (SODwaveguides with an ORPEL overlay was studied as a "building block"structure for resonant interactions in the = 820 nm, = 1064 nm,and = 1550 nm wavelength ranges. These structures can play therole of detectors, optoelectronic modulators, or optical switches.
Structures were initially modeled byfirst-order methods to provide a maximum off resonance reflectance.Initial designs were analyzed by rigorous coupled-wave methods,while structure parameters were varied in order to minimize apre-determined merit function. While undergoing optimization, thegrating period of the structure was adjusted in order to return theresonance wavelength back to design.
Experimental results for both = 1064 nm and = 1550 nm structures verified that modeling and optimizationclosely matched experiment for the highest quality material. Wehave concluded that, given a quality waveguide to build upon, it ispossible to design and construct an optically-resonant structurethat satisfies a particular target wavelength.