A Mechanophotonic Approach toward an Organic, Flexible Crystal Optical Interferometer

Abstract

Organic crystals are poised to be a potential alternative to conventional silicon and its derivatives due to their utilization as microscale photonic components like active and passive waveguides, ring‐resonators, modulators, directional couplers, add‐on filters, interferometers (IMs), and reconfigurable circuits. Among these, IMs are important for flexible organic photonic integrated circuits. Here, the design and synthesis of extremely flexible (E)‐1‐(((5‐bromopyridin‐2‐yl)imino)methyl)naphthalen‐2‐ol (BPyIN) crystals are demonstrated. The interactions stabilizing the crystal packing and crystal‐substrate adhesion dictate the elasticity and pseudo‐plasticity, respectively. The extremely flexible BPyIN crystals disclose bending geometry‐dependent optical modes in the fluorescence spectra. This understanding is extended for fabricating a fiber loop mirror (FLM)‐like geometry using a BPyIN single crystal. Mechanophotonics approach facilitates the integration of FLM‐like crystal with a doubly bent waveguide to construct a first‐of‐its‐kind IM. The light propagating path‐length‐dependent optical interference within the IM is established. These proof‐of‐principle experiments illustrate the usefulness of mechanophotonics to fabricate miniature photonic devices beyond the traditional fabrication approach.

Amphibian‐like Flexible Organic Crystal Optical Fibers for Underwater/Air Micro‐Precision Lighting and Sensing

“…Despite a strain of 1.89 % caused due to micromechanical bending on the crystal, the elastic BPP microcrystal did not revert to its original shape after stress removal because of its pseudoplasticity (crystal surface and substrate adhesive interaction). [33,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41] The relative optical loss resulting from the crystal bend (α' bent -α' straight ) was measured to be 0.07399 dB μm À 1 (Figure 3d,f).…”

Crystal photonics foundry: geometrical shaping of molecular single crystals into next generation optical cavities

“…36,37 This unique atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever tip-assisted approach allowed the fabrication of OPIC components viz . directional couplers, 38,39 ring resonators, 34,35 add-drop-filters, 35,40 multiplexers, 41 racetrack-type resonators, 42 and interferometers, 43 using flexible organic crystal waveguides.…”

Race‐Track Type Resonator Integrated Active Add‐Drop Filter from Flexible Organic Crystals: Experiments and Numerical Calculations

“…The field of organic photonic integrated circuits (OPICs) is emerging as a potential alternative to silicon-based PICs. [1,2] Many crucial microscale components, viz., bent waveguides, [3][4][5][6][7] (linear and non-linear optical) cavities, [8][9][10][11][12][13] modulators, [14,15] interferometers, [16,17] and lasers, [18][19][20][21][22] have been made from various organic crystalline materials. Organic micro-heterostructures can also be obtained from two or more crystals using crystallization and core-shell strategy (coated on the surface of other crystals).…”

“…Unlike circular RR, an elliptical configuration of a so-called race-track resonator (RTR) increases the coupling efficiency due to its straight coupling section. This work presents the fabrication of a monolithic ADF on a silica surface using pseudoplastic crystals [17,[31][32][33][34][35] of 9,10-dibromoanthracene (DBA) [49][50][51] via mechanophotonics technique (Scheme 1a,b) and analysis of its optical characteristics via FDTD numerical calculations. First, mechanical micromanipulation of pseudo-plasticity of DBA crystal on the silica surface provides a unique resonator with a race-track type geometry (RTR).…”