Abstract
Arising from: Y. Akahane, T. Asano, B.-S. Song & S. Noda Nature 425, 944–947 (2003); Akahane et al. reply One challenge in photonics is strongly to confine light in small volumes in order to increase light–matter interaction. Akahane et al.1 propose a new concept for increasing the lifetime of this interaction, based on tailoring of the Fourier spectrum of cavity modes, which they believe is demonstrated by the surprising enhancement (roughly tenfold) of the quality factor Q of the cavity as a result of fine-tuning the mirror-hole geometry in a photonic-crystal nanocavity. Here we question the validity of their concept and argue that the improvement in Q is due to an increase in the impedance wave matching at the cavity edges and to a slow-wave effect. This alternative interpretation opens the way to new cavity designs.
Similar content being viewed by others
Enjoying our latest content?
Log in or create an account to continue
- Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team
- Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research
or
References
Akahane, Y., Asano, T., Song, B.-S. & Noda, S. Nature 425, 944–947 (2003).
Silberstein, E., Lalanne, P., Hugonin, J. P. & Cao, Q. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 18, 2865–2875 (2001).
Vuckovic, J., Loncar, M., Mabuchi, H. & Scherer, A. IEEE J. Quant. Electr. 38, 850–856 (2002).
Palamaru, M. & Lalanne, P. Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 1466–1468 (2001).
Coldren, L. A. & Corzine, S. W. (eds) Diode Lasers and Photonic Integrated Circuits (Wiley, New York, 1995).
Lalanne, P. & Hugonin, J.-P. IEEE J. Quant. Electr. 39, 1430–1438 (2003).
Lalanne, P., Mias, S. & Hugonin, J. P. Opt. Exp. 12, 458–467 (2004).
Notomi, M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 253902 (2001).
Chutinan, A. & Noda, S. Phys. Rev. B 62, 4488–4492 (2000).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sauvan, C., Lalanne, P. & Hugonin, JP. Tuning holes in photonic-crystal nanocavities. Nature 429, 1 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02602
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02602
This article is cited by
-
Spontaneous-emission control by photonic crystals and nanocavities
Nature Photonics (2007)
-
Ultra-high-Q photonic double-heterostructure nanocavity
Nature Materials (2005)
-
Tuning holes in photonic-crystal nanocavities (reply)
Nature (2004)
