Theoretical and experimental study of electromagnetic forces induced in one-dimensional photonic crystals J. E. Lugo 1 , Rafael Doti 1 , Jocelyn Faubert 1 , Noemi Sanchez 1,2 , Javier Sanchez 2 , Martha A. Palomino 3 , M. Beatriz de la Mora 4 and J. Antonio del Rio 5 1 Visual Psychophysics and Perception Laboratory, School of Optometry, University of Montreal, C.P. 6128 succ. Centre Ville, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C3J7, 2 Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Calle Luis Enrique Erro #1. Tonantzintla, Puebla, México. 72000, 3 Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Av. San Claudio y Río Verde, Col. San Manuel, Puebla, México, 72570, 4 Instituto de Física, Departamento de Estado Solido, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, México, D. F., México, 04510, 5 Centro de Investigación en Energía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Temixco 62580, Morelos, Mexico We studied theoretically and experimentally the induction of electromagnetic forces in one-dimensional photonic crystals with localized defects when light impinges transversally to the defect layer. The theoretical calculations indicate that the electromagnetic forces increases at a certain frequency that coincide with a defect photonic state. The photonic structure consists of a microcavity like structure formed of two one-dimensional photonic crystals made of free-standing porous silicon, separated by variable air gap and the working wavelength is 633 nm. The force generation is made evident by driving a laser light by means of a chopper; the light hits the photonic structure and induces a vibration and the vibration is characterized by using a very sensitive vibrometer. Keywords: Electromagnetic force, porous silicon, light propagation, photonic crystals, defect states. * eduardo.lugo@gmail.com ; phone 514‐3436111 ext. 1685. 1. INTRODUCTION The concept of radiation pressure has been used in the past for manipulating micro-objects [1]. For example, optical tweezers are used to levitate viruses, bacteria, cells, and sub cellular organisms, etc. [2]. The fast development of electromagnetic wave driven micro motors has motivated several research groups to investigate novel working principles for such micro motors [3], but there is a main obstacle, normally the radiation pressure is too small for this kind of applications [4]. Nonetheless some resonance principles can be used to increase the force significantly. For instance, a waveguide made of lossless dielectric blocks, where the direction of the force exerted on the dielectric is parallel to the waveguide axis [5, 6]. A second approach is a Bragg waveguide, based on a Fabry-Perot cavity in which the peak of the force only appears at the structures’ resonant frequencies and the force is normal to the waveguide wall [7]. However in this design the force tends to separate the two mirrors that form the Fabry-Perot cavity, having as a consequence a dramatic reduction of the force [4]. A third approach can use a one-dimensional photonic crystal with structural defects, where a localized mode results in strong electromagnetic fields around the position of the defect. Thus, the strong fields enhance the tangential and normal force on a lossy dielectric layer [4]. This work is organized as follows: in the first section we describe briefly the theory to induce an electromagnetic force in the photonic structure. Next, we present the experimental details to fabricate the photonic structure and how to measure the structure movement, velocity, and acceleration. Then, we present and discuss the results where we compare the experimental force with the theoretical one. Finally we wrap up the work by giving some conclusions. Photonics North 2013, Pavel Cheben, Jens Schmid, Caroline Boudoux, Lawrence R. Chen, André Delâge, Siegfried Janz, Raman Kashyap, David J. Lockwood, Hans-Peter Loock, Zetian Mi, Eds., Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8915, 891519 · © 2013 SPIE · CCC code: 0277-786X/13/$18 · doi: 10.1117/12.2037993 Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8915 891519-1 Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 10/15/2013 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms