Theory and fabrication of evanescently-coupled photoluminescent devices

This thesis discusses the theory and implementation of evanescently-coupled photoluminescent devices. We demonstrate the feasibility of efficient, spectrally tunable lighting devices through quantum dot photoluminescence. Devices that enjoy both great efficiencies and excellent color temperatures are the goal of current lighting research. They are a "have your cake and eat it too," achievement that are not realized with current technologies. It has long been recognized that the narrow and tunable emission spectra of quantum dots allows access to an unprecedented range of colors, with which one could construct a spectrally perfect white light. However, current quantum dot photoluminescent devices suffer efficiency losses due to high reabsorption of emitted light. We demonstrate that the idea of evanescent coupling permits use of a thin film geometry, whereby thick films and their associated inefficiencies can be avoided. Specifically, QDs are stabilized in the cladding of a waveguide and excited by the evanescent field of the guided modes rather than by direction illumination. As an additional advantage, the pump light and emission can be spatially distant; this decoupling promises to alleviate engineering headaches related to heat dissipation.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Friend, David Harry

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Vladimir Bulović.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46538

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/46538