We have fabricated three-dimensional optically active ZnO photonic crystals by infiltrating polystyrene opal templates using a low-temperature atomic layer deposition process. The polystyrene is removed by firing the samples at elevated temperatures, and reactive ion etching is used to remove the top layer of ZnO and expose the ͑111͒ photonic crystal surface. The resulting structures have high filling fractions, possess photonic band gaps in the near-UV to visible spectrum, and exhibit efficient photoluminescence.
UV lasing in three-dimensional ZnO photonic crystals is demonstrated at room temperature. The photonic crystals are inverse opals with high refractive index contrast that simultaneously confine light and provide optical gain. Highly directional lasing with tunable wavelength is obtained by optical pumping. Comparison of the experimental results to the calculated band structure shows that lasing occurs in high-order bands with abnormally low group velocity. This demonstrates that the high-order band structure of three-dimensional photonic crystals can be used to effectively confine light and enhance emission. Our findings may also impact other applications of photonic crystal devices.
We report tunable third-harmonic generation (THG) in an Ar-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, pumped by broadband <2 microJ, 30 fs pulses from an amplified Ti:sapphire laser system. The overall dispersion is precisely controlled by balancing the negative dielectric susceptibility of the waveguide against the positive susceptibility of the gas. We demonstrate THG to a higher-order guided mode and show that the phase-matched UV wavelength is tunable by adjusting the gas pressure.
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