title: Electromechanically tunable carbon nanofiber photonic crystal.
abstract: We demonstrate an electrically tunable 2D photonic crystal array constructed from vertically aligned carbon nanofibers. The nanofibers are actuated by applying a voltage between adjacent carbon nanofiber pairs grown directly on metal electrodes, thus dynamically changing the form factor of the photonic crystal lattice. The change in optical properties is characterized using optical diffraction and ellipsometry. The experimental results are shown to be in agreement with theoretical predictions and provide a proof-of-principle for rapidly switchable photonic crystals operating in the visible that can be fabricated using standard nanolithography techniques combined with plasma CVD growth of the nanofibers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rehammar
authors.forename: Farzan Alavian
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Ghavanini
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Magnusson
authors.forename: Jari M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kinaret
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Enoksson
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arwin
authors.forename: Eleanor E B
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Campbell