Mechanically Tunable Photonic Crystal Devices

Abstract

Photonic crystals (PhC) are proving to be an interesting research area as they can be utilized to induce strong interaction between light and matter. The distinctive significance of PhCs is the utilization of conventional materials such as silicon to achieve unique properties such as bandgap, slow light, dispersive and light confinement capabilities. Coupled with their compact size and characteristics, PhCs may be potential candidates for chip scale dense photonic integrated circuits in the future. In this thesis, the investigation of mechanical tunable PhCs devices with various nanophotonics and nanomechanics structural designs is systematically presented.