American Institute of Physics, Journal of Applied Physics, 11(119), p. 113105
DOI: 10.1063/1.4944318
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Periodic highly dense multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) arrays can act as photonic materials exhibiting band gaps in the visible regime and beyond terahertz range. MWCNT arrays in square arrangement for nanoscale lattice constants can be configured as a microcavity with predictable narrow-band resonance frequencies. Here, we demonstrate computational analyses of compact square microcavities (≈0.8×0.8µm2) based on MWCNT arrays with enhanced quality factors (≈170-180) and narrow-band resonance peaks. Cavity resonances were rationally designed and optimized (nanotube geometry and cavity size) with finite element method (FEM). Series (1×2 and 1×3) and parallel (2×1 and 3×1) combinations of microcavities were modeled and resonance modes were analyzed. Higher order MWCNT microcavities showed enhanced resonance modes, which were red shifted with increasing Q-factors. Parallel microcavity geometries were also optimized to obtain narrow-band tunable filtering in low-loss communication windows (810, 1336 and 1558 nm). Compact series and parallel MWCNT microcavity arrays may have applications in optical filters and miniaturized optical communication devices.