Vertically Constructed Three-dimensional Polymeric Photonic Crystals Based on Nano-Imprint Technology

Nanophotonics promises to have a revolutionary impact on the landscape of photonics technology. Photonic crystal based structures are anticipated to play a significant role in next generation photonic devices. Incorporating the photonic crystal nanostructures provides an unprecedented opportunity to enhance the dispersion, anisotropy, and wavelength/angular sensitivity of photonic materials, which leads to novel approaches to beam steering devices and optical true time delay devices with ultra-compact sizes, among numerous other possibilities. In this program, Omega Optics proposes to employ nano-imprint technology to fabricate three-dimensional(3D) photonic crystals where each 3D layer formation can be completed by only one step instead of 3 to 4 steps through conventional approaches. The proposed fabrication method exploits the unique nature of polymeric materials and offers high throughput, improved yield, and ample design freedom. The imprint technology also results in smooth structural interfaces, which are critical for reducing optical loss. Polymeric photonic crystal samples will be fabricated for the proof-of-concept demonstration of slow photon based true time delay lines suitable for phased array antennas, and superprism effect based beam steering applications in the Phase I program. To this end, these samples will be carefully characterized with regard to structure, group velocity dispersion, and beam steering capability.