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Sol–gel-derived photonic structures: fabrication, assessment, and application

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Abstract

Sol–gel is a handy, very flexible, and cheap method to fabricate, study, and apply innovative photonic structures. The possibility of starting from molecular precursors and elementary building blocks permits to tailor structures at the molecular level and to create new materials with enhanced performances. Of specific interest for the study of important physical effects as well as for application in light management are confined structures on the nano-micro scale as photonic crystal and planar waveguides. Activation by luminescent species and in particular by rare earth ions allows results in the integrated optics area covering application in sensing, biomedical diagnostic, telecommunication, lightning, and photon management. The present review is focused on some recent results obtained by the authors in Sol–gel photonics. The first part presents colloidal structures including single nano-micro spheres and photonic crystal structures. The second part of the review deals with amorphous and transparent glass–ceramic employed for the fabrication of confined structures in planar format. Some specific application are also reported to highlight the role of sol gel photonics in the development of high performance optical sensors, waveguide lasers, and nanostructured materials.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this work was performed in the framework of the research projects PAT-FaStFal, ITPAR Phase II area Nanophotonics, NAOMI, and COST MP0702: Towards Functional Sub-Wavelength Photonic Structures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR-IFN, CSMFO Laboratory, Via alla Cascata 56/c, Povo, 38123, Trento, Italy

    Andrea Chiappini, Alessandro Chiasera, Cristina Armellini, Alessandro Carpentiero, Maurizio Mazzola, Stefano Varas & Maurizio Ferrari

  2. Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche “Enrico Fermi”, Piazza del Viminale 2, 00184, Rome, Italy

    Simone Berneschi

  3. MDF Laboratory, IFAC-CNR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Simone Berneschi & Giancarlo C. Righini

  4. FBK, via Sommarive 18, Povo, 38123, Trento, Italy

    Cristina Armellini

  5. Department of Physics, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, Povo, 38123, Trento, Italy

    Enrico Moser

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  1. Andrea Chiappini
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Correspondence to Maurizio Ferrari.

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Chiappini, A., Chiasera, A., Berneschi, S. et al. Sol–gel-derived photonic structures: fabrication, assessment, and application. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 60, 408–425 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-011-2556-y

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