1. An optical apparatus, comprising:
a substrate;
a waveguide configured to propagate optical energy disposed on said substrate; and
a semiconductor electrical interconnect disposed between said waveguide and an electrical contact surface, said interconnect being in electrical communication with said electrical contact surface;
in which said semiconductor electrical interconnect comprises a geometry configured to substantially confine said optical energy to said waveguide, and
in which said semiconductor electrical interconnect is configured to separate said waveguide and said electrical contact surface by a distance greater than one wavelength of the optical energy to propagate through said waveguide.
2. The optical apparatus of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor electrical interconnect comprises at least one physical feature selected from the group consisting of: recesses, protrusions, trenches, holes, nanoholes, nanowires, and ridges.
3. The optical apparatus of claim 2, wherein said semiconductor electrical interconnect comprises at least one recess; wherein said at least one recess is filled with an insulating material having a lower refractive index than said waveguide.
4. The optical apparatus of claim 3, wherein said semiconductor electrical interconnect comprises a plurality of recesses, wherein different recesses are filled with different insulating materials.
5. The optical apparatus of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor electrical interconnect is doped with electronic carriers selected from the group consisting of: electrons and holes.
6. The optical apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one layer of material intermediate said substrate and said optical waveguide.
7. The optical apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second electrical contact surface in electrical communication with at least one doped side region in said optical waveguide.
8. An optical resonator, comprising:
a substrate;
an insulating layer disposed on said substrate;
a semiconductor waveguide disposed on said insulating layer; and
a plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects extending at least one half of a wavelength of optical energy configured to propagate through said waveguide from a first surface of said semiconductor waveguide in a direction substantially away from said substrate, each of said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects forming a substantially independent electrical path from an electrical contact surface to said semiconductor waveguide;
wherein said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects comprise a geometry configured to substantially confine said optical energy to said waveguide.
9. The optical resonator of claim 8, wherein said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects comprise at least one physical feature selected from the group consisting of: recesses, protrusions, trenches, holes, nanoholes, nanowires, and ridges.
10. The optical resonator of claim 9, wherein said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects are separated by at least one recess; wherein said recess is filled with an insulating material having a lower refractive index than said waveguide and plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects.
11. The optical resonator of claim 10, wherein said insulating material in said at least one recess is different from material in said insulating layer.
12. The optical resonator of claim 9, said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects are separated by at least one recess; wherein said at least one recess comprises a partial or full vacuum.
13. The optical resonator of claim 8, wherein said semiconductor electrical interconnects are doped with electronic carriers selected from the group consisting of: electrons and holes.
14. The optical resonator of claim 8, wherein said waveguide comprises a semiconductor body having a substantially intrinsic center region and doped side regions.
15. The optical resonator of claim 14, further comprising a second electrical contact surface in electrical communication with at least one of said doped side regions.
16. The optical resonator of claim 8, wherein each of said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects is in electrical communication with an electrical contact surface and contacting said first surface at different locations such that charge carrier injection into said semiconductor waveguide is distributed over said first surface.
17. A method of fabricating an optical apparatus, comprising:
providing an optical waveguide configured to propagate optical energy;
providing a plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects extending from a first surface of said optical waveguide, wherein said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects comprise a geometry configured to substantially confine optical energy to said optical waveguide; and
disposing a metal contact surface on said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising selectively etching at least one recess in said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising filling said at least one recess with an electrically insulating material having a lower refractive index than said optical waveguide and said plurality of semiconductor electrical interconnects.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein said metal contact surface is disposed on said semiconductor electrical interconnects at a distance from said optical waveguide of at least one half of the wavelength, measured in the material of said optical waveguide, of the optical energy configured to propagate through said optical waveguide.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A biocompatible implantable portal comprising:
a wall defining a communicative passage through an interior bore; and
an exterior having a neck region adapted to promote autologous cell growth thereon in an implantable region, the neck region having a plurality of channels extending about the neck region.
2. The portal of claim 1 wherein a channel of said plurality of channels has a width of 20 to 300 microns.
3. The portal of claim 1 wherein adjacent channels of said plurality of channels are separated by a plateau having a width of between 0 and 600 microns.
4. The portal of claim 1 wherein the exterior is nanotextured.
5. The portal of claim 1 further comprising an autologous cell growth promoter coating.
6. The portal of claim 5 wherein said coating is a tissue scaffolding matrix.
7. The portal of claim 6 wherein said tissue scaffolding matrix comprises autologous fibroblasts.
8. The portal of claim 5 wherein said coating is porous.
9. The portal of claim 8 wherein said porous coating has an average pore size of between 30 and 500 microns.
10. The portal of claim 1 further comprising a coupling or a manifold to encompass the neck portion.
11. The portal of claim 1 further comprising an autologous cell-compatible dye within at least one of said plurality of channels.
12. An in situ percutaneous access device cell growth assembly comprising:
a portal of claim 1; and
a manifold encompassing the neck portion so as to form a seal therebetween and a route of fluid communication between a manifold inlet and at least one of said plurality of channels.
13. The assembly of claim 11 further comprising a gasket in simultaneous contact between the manifold and the neck portion of said portal.
14. The assembly of claim 11 further comprising a fastener engaging the manifold and an insert within the interior of said portal, said fastener selectively adjusting lateral displacement between said manifold and the neck region.
15. A processing for growing autologous cells on a neck region of a percutaneous access device comprising forming channels in the neck region, said channels facilitating fibroblast movement therein; and
implanting the percutaneous access device such that the neck region extends from a subject epidermis.
16. The process of claim 15 further comprising creating a nanotexture on the neck region prior to implantation.
17. The process of claim 15 further comprising drawing a vacuum on said channels.
18. The process of claim 17 wherein the vacuum is supplied by a pneumatic system of a left ventricular assist device.
19. The process of claim 15 further comprising coating said channels with a biodegradable scaffolding matrix to support autologous cell ingrowth.
20. The process of claim 19 wherein said matrix is seeded with autologous fibroblasts.
21. The process of claim 19 wherein said matrix is porous and facilitates fibroblast capillary draw therethrough.
22. A process for producing a biocompatible implantable portal having a nanoporous surface comprising:
dispersing a plurality of nanocrystals in a polymer to yield a polymer dispersion;
applying said polymer dispersion onto the portal having a surface; and
exposing said polymer dispersion on the surface to a solution for selectively dissolving said plurality of nanocrystals from the surface to create the nanoporous surface.
23. The process of claim 22 further comprising sonicating said polymer while exposing said polymer to said solution.
24. The process of claim 22 wherein said plurality of nanocrystals are silver nanocrystals.
25. A process for producing a biocompatible implantable portal having a nanoporous surface comprising:
forming a dual domain coating having a first domain type and a second domain type dispersed through said coating on the portal; and
removing the first domain type from said coating to yield the porous surface.
26. The process of claim 25 wherein the second domain type is of a bioimplantation compatible material selected from the group consisting of: a metal, ceramic and a plastic polymer.
27. The process of claim 25 wherein the second domain type is a plastic polymer polymerized in situ as an interpenetrating polymer network.