Silica aerogel cavity enhancement of spectral reflection from distributed Bragg reflectors with patterned surfaces.

Distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) can experience thermomechanical issues under an intense incident beam. A remedy for this issue is to pattern the DBR structure to facilitate thermal expansion in the structure. However, finite-size patterns reduce the design's electromagnetic performance, including the reflectivity amplitude and the operational bandwidth.

Broadband-Tunable Vanadium Dioxide (VO)-Based Linear Optical Cavity Sensor.

Sensors fabricated by using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform provide promising solutions to issues such as size, power consumption, wavelength-specific nature of end reflectors and difficulty to detect ternary mixture. To address these limitations, we proposed and investigated a broadband-thermally tunable vanadium dioxide (VO)-based linear optical cavity sensor model using a finite element method. The proposed structure consists of a silicon wire waveguide on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform terminated with phase-change vanadium oxide (VO) on each side to provide light confinement.

Tungsten Based Spectrally Selective Absorbers with Anisotropic Rough Surface Texture.

Spectrally selective absorbers have received considerable interest due to their applications in thermophotovoltaic devices and as solar absorbers. Due to extreme operating conditions in these applications, such as high temperatures, thermo-mechanically stable and broadband spectrally selective absorbers are of interest. This paper demonstrates anisotropic random rough surfaces that provide broadband spectrally selective absorption for the thermo-mechanically stable Tungsten surfaces.

Synthesis and Morphological Control of VO Nanostructures via a One-Step Hydrothermal Method.

The morphology of nanostructures is a vital parameter to consider in components comprised of materials exhibiting specific functionalities. The number of process steps and the need for high temperatures can often be a limiting factor when targeting a specific morphology. Here, we demonstrate a repeatable synthesis of different morphologies of a highly crystalline monoclinic phase of vanadium dioxide (VO(M)) using a one-step hydrothermal method.

Enhancing Spectral Reflection through Controlled Phase Distribution Using Doped Polar-Dielectric Metasurfaces.

Controlling the phase distribution of wavefronts using optical metasurfaces has led to interesting optical properties and applications. Here, we explore the control of phase distribution through polar-dielectric metasurfaces composed of doped SiC nanosphere arrays. We investigate the impact of doping concentration on the optical properties of SiC nano-spheres.

Surface Roughness Effects on the Broadband Reflection for Refractory Metals and Polar Dielectrics.

Random surface roughness and surface distortions occur inevitably because of various material processing and fabrication techniques. Tailoring and smoothing the surface roughness can be especially challenging for thermomechanically stable materials, including refractory metals, such as tungsten (W), and polar dielectrics, such as silicon carbide (SiC). The spectral reflectivity and emissivity of surfaces are significantly impacted by surface roughness effects.

A Theoretical Treatment of THz Resonances in Semiconductor GaAs p-n Junctions.

Semiconductor heterostructures are suitable for the design and fabrication of terahertz (THz) plasmonic devices, due to their matching carrier densities. The classical dispersion relations in the current literature are derived for metal plasmonic materials, such as gold and silver, for which a homogeneous dielectric function is valid. Penetration of the electric fields into semiconductors induces locally varying charge densities and a spatially varying dielectric function is expected.

Focusing short-wavelength surface plasmons by a plasmonic mirror.

Emerging applications in nanotechnology, such as superresolution imaging, ultra-sensitive biomedical detection, and heat-assisted magnetic recording, require plasmonic devices that can generate intense optical spots beyond the diffraction limit. One of the important drawbacks of surface plasmon focusing structures is their complex design, which is significant for ease of integration with other nanostructures and fabrication at low cost. In this study, a planar plasmonic mirror without any nanoscale features is investigated that can focus surface plasmons to produce intense optical spots having lateral and vertical dimensions of λ/9.

Entropy Generation Analysis of Laminar Flows of Water-Based Nanofluids in Horizontal Minitubes under Constant Heat Flux Conditions.

During the last decade, second law analysis via entropy generation has become important in terms of entropy generation minimization (EGM), thermal engineering system design, irreversibility, and energy saving. In this study, heat transfer and entropy generation characteristics of flows of multi-walled carbon nanotube-based nanofluids were investigated in horizontal minitubes with outer and inner diameters of ~1067 and ~889 µm, respectively. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with outer diameter of 10-20 nm and length of 1-2 µm were used for nanofluid preparation, and water was considered as the base fluid.

Tunable Surface Plasmon and Phonon Polariton Interactions for Moderately Doped Semiconductor Surfaces.

Spatial charge distribution for biased semiconductors fundamentally differs from metals since they can allow inhomogeneous charge distributions due to penetration of the electric field, as observed in the classical Schottky junctions. Similarly, the electrostatics of the dielectric/semiconductor interface can lead to a carrier depletion or accumulation in the semiconductor side when under applied bias. In this study, we demonstrate that the inhomogeneous carrier accumulation in a moderately p-doped GaAs-dielectric interface can be tailored for tunable plasmonics by an external voltage.

Plasmonic spiderweb nanoantenna surface for broadband hotspot generation.

In this study, we demonstrate a general framework for obtaining a plasmonic nanoantenna surface with a broadband polarization-independent response. The plasmonic spiderweb nanoantenna surface is composed of unit cells, which form multiple resonance paths due to patterning of the metallic conductor such that electrons can find multiple ways to oscillate between the poles of the conductor. The tailoring of the conductor paths and shapes of the unit cells' patterns results in a broadband spectral response.

Absorption efficiency enhancement in inorganic and organic thin film solar cells via plasmonic honeycomb nanoantenna arrays.

We demonstrate theoretically that by embedding plasmonic honeycomb nanoantenna arrays into the active layers of inorganic (c-Si) and organic (P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS) thin film solar cells, absorption efficiency can be improved. To obtain the solar cell absorption spectrum that conforms to the solar radiation, spectral broadening is achieved by breaking the symmetry within the Wigner-Seitz unit cell on a uniform hexagonal grid. For optimized honeycomb designs, absorption efficiency enhancements of 106.

Unidirectional broadband radiation of honeycomb plasmonic antenna array with broken symmetry.

Emerging plasmonic and photovoltaic applications benefit from effective interaction between optical antennas and unidirectional incident light over a wide spectrum. Here, we propose a honeycomb array of plasmonic nanoantennas with broken symmetry to obtain a unidirectional radiation pattern over a wide spectrum. The honeycomb nanoantenna array is based on a hexagonal grid with periodically arranged nanostructure building blocks.

An integral equation based numerical solution for nanoparticles illuminated with collimated and focused light.

To address the large number of parameters involved in nano-optical problems, a more efficient computational method is necessary. An integral equation based numerical solution is developed when the particles are illuminated with collimated and focused incident beams. The solution procedure uses the method of weighted residuals, in which the integral equation is reduced to a matrix equation and then solved for the unknown electric field distribution.

Interaction of spherical nanoparticles with a highly focused beam of light.

The interaction of a highly focused beam of light with spherical nanoparticles is investigated for linear and radial polarizations. An analytical solution is obtained to calculate this interaction. The Richards-Wolf theory is used to express the incident electric field near the focus of an aplanatic lens.

Near-field radiation from a ridge waveguide transducer in the vicinity of a solid immersion lens.

A near-field optical system is investigated to improve the transmission efficiency of near-field transducers. A ridge waveguide is placed adjacent to a solid immersion lens (SIL) but separated by a low-index dielectric layer. The incident electric field near the focus of the SIL is determined by the Richards-Wolf vector field equations.