Glass photonics

The research activity of CSMFO unit is focalized on preparation and characterization of dielectric glass-based materials for photonics and optoelectronics. The silica on silicon (SOS) technique is fundamental for optical integration and today is at very early stage of development. The optimization of waveguiding materials could avoid some limits related to both the SOS functionality and to the chemical-physical characteristics of the silica. An interesting contribution could derive from the sol-gel technique which, as proved also by the works published by our research group, allows the development of photonics materials with controlled optical, spectroscopic and structural properties. Other non-conventional materials, such as hybrid structures and IR glasses could be fabricated to extend the photonics applications.

Recently, as already done in electronics, photonic devices demand the integration on flexible substrates for a broad spectrum of applications ranging from optical interconnection through sensors for civil infrastructures and environmental applications, to coherent and incoherent light sources and functionalized coatings for integration on biological tissue. While conventional photonic systems are fabricated on rigid supports, integration on deformable polymer substrates has given birth to flexible photonics, a field that has rapidly emerged in recent years to the forefront of photonics. Planar integrated photonic structures, such as gratings and channel waveguides but also solar cells and protective coatings, offer unique performance characteristics as compared to their rigid classical counterparts. To fully succeed our attention is directed on two crucial steps: i) design and fabrication of appropriate flexible substrates, and ii) realization of planar waveguides as well as deposition of photonic crystals on flexible substrates with reduced radiative losses and capability of maintaining a consistent adhesion under mechanical deformation.

An improvement of current research activity has to be considered regarding:

• The start of a combined theoretical and experimental study of dielectrics or hybrid PBG Photonic Bandgap Structures

• Design and preparation of lossless devices

• Study of Microresonator-based devices (Whispering Gallery Modes)