title: Generation of λ/12 nanowires in chalcogenide glasses.
abstract: Nanowires have been widely studied and have gained a lot of interest in the past decade. Because of their high refractive index and high nonlinearity, chalcogenide glasses (ChGs) are a good candidate for the fabrication of photonic nanowires as such nanowaveguides provide the maximal confinement of light, enabling large enhancement of nonlinear interactions and group-velocity dispersion engineering. Here we report on the generation of λ/12 (∼68 nm) nanowires based on the theoretical and experimental study of the influence of the laser repetition rate on the direct laser fabrication in ChGs (λ = 800 nm). Through a numerical model of cumulative heating, the optimum conditions for high-resolution fabrication in As(2)S(3) are found. Nanowires with dimensions down to ∼λ/12 are for the first time successfully fabricated in ChGs. We show that the generated nanowires can be stacked to form a three-dimensional woodpile photonic crystal with a pronounced stop gap.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Micro-Photonics and CUDOS, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology , PO Box 218 Hawthorn, 3122 Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bulla
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Luther-Davies
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gu