Strain shapes the light in a photonic crystal nanocavity

This study proposes and demonstrates a novel nanoclamp structure symmetrically disposed near a one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavity embedded in a deformable polydimethylsiloxane substrate. These nanoclamps show capabilities of locally shaping (including enhancing and inhibiting) the strain of PhC nanocavity. The produced artificial non-ideal elastomer leads to an enhanced wavelength response of −12.7 nm for every percentage compressive strain variation from the tunable PhC nanolasers in experiments. This result not only guarantees the excellent tunability of the 1D PhC nanolasers but also promises ultrahigh sensitivity in strain sensing. Moreover, such nanoclamps can further create a reconfigurable conversion between waveguide and nanocavity with a 1–2 order difference in the quality factor when applied to a 1D PhC waveguide. We believe this study provides a possibility for on-demand sculpturing of the optical properties of tunable PhC devices in the nanoscale by inserting additional nano- or micro-structures.