Transport through Amorphous Photonic Materials with Localization and Bandgap Regimes.

We propose a framework that unifies the description of light transmission through three-dimensional amorphous dielectric materials that exhibit both localization and a photonic bandgap. We argue that direct, coherent reflection near and in the bandgap attenuates the generation of diffuse or localized photons. Using the self-consistent theory of localization and considering the density of states of photons, we can quantitatively describe the total transmission of light for all transport regimes: transparency, light diffusion, localization, and bandgap.

Reactive Sintering of Dysprosium-Iron Garnet via a Perovskite-Hematite Solid State Reaction and Physical Properties of the Material.

In this paper, we report on a successful synthesis of dysprosium iron garnet DyFeO (DyIG) by a reactive synthesis method involving dysprosium iron perovskite and hematite. Phase formation was traced using dilatometry, and XRD measurements attested to the formation of the desired structure. Samples with relative density close to 97% were fabricated.

Light-Driven Linear Inchworm Motor Based on Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators Fabricated with Rubbing Overwriting.

Linear displacement is used for positioning and scanning, e.g., in robotics at different scales or in scientific instrumentation.

Transition from light diffusion to localization in three-dimensional amorphous dielectric networks near the band edge.

Localization of light is the photon analog of electron localization in disordered lattices, for whose discovery Anderson received the Nobel prize in 1977. The question about its existence in open three-dimensional materials has eluded an experimental and full theoretical verification for decades. Here we study numerically electromagnetic vector wave transmittance through realistic digital representations of hyperuniform dielectric networks, a new class of highly correlated but disordered photonic band gap materials.

Photo-Mechanical Response Dynamics of Liquid Crystal Elastomer Linear Actuators.

With continuous miniaturization of many technologies, robotics seems to be lagging behind. While the semiconductor technologies operate confidently at the nanometer scale and micro-mechanics of simple structures (MEMS) in micrometers, autonomous devices are struggling to break the centimeter barrier and have hardly colonized smaller scales. One way towards miniaturization of robots involves remotely powered, light-driven soft mechanisms based on photo-responsive materials, such as liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs).