High quality two-dimensional photonic crystal slab cavities

We have fabricated and characterized donor-mode nanocavities formed by a single defect cavity defined within a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab. Quantum dots emitting in the 1.1-1.3 micron range were used as luminescence sources, and a design using fractional edge dislocations was used to demonstrate well-confined dipole modes with high quality factors. By applying the fractional dislocation geometry, the measured quality factor could be increased to values as high as 2800. This compares with typical quality factors of around 1500 measured from more conventional shallow donor mode cavities with larger mode volumes. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.