Abstract

In order to increase the data transmission rates and capacity of optical transmission systems, the size of photonic devices must be decreased. Thus, we proposed nanometer-scale photonic integrated circuits (ICs) that are composed of sub-100-nm scale dots and wires.¹ Furthermore, we developed a far/near-fieid conversion device by introducing a metallized Si wedge.² The use of such a conversion device will realize the coupling of nanometer-scale photonic ICs with external conventional diffraction-limited photonic devices. Furthermore, since visible photoluminescence (PL) of the Si nanocrystals due to the confinement effect has reported,² Si nanocrystals are a promising candidate material for a visible light-emitting device. Due to the indirect-gap band structure of Si, however, the quantum efficiency is low. To overcome these difficulties, we propose using the optical near-field as a carrier for signal transmission, since it does not have to follow the wavevector conservation law. Consequently, an increase in the PL quantum efficiency is expected.

© 2002 Optical Society of America