Polymer nanocomposite infiltration of silicon photonic crystals

Infiltration of planar 2D silicon photonic crystals with nanocomposites using a simple melt processing technique is presented. The nanocomposites that were developed by evenly dispersing functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles into a photoconducting polymer exhibit high optical quality and tunable refractive index. The infiltrated photonic crystals show tuning of the photonic band-gap that is controllable by the adjustment of the nanoparticle loading level. These results may be useful in the development of tunable photonic devices, hybrid light emitting diodes and photovoltaics.