High Index Materials Research Articles

Exciton-dielectric mode coupling in MoS2 nanoflakes visualized by cathodoluminescence

Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), possessing unique exciton luminescence properties, have attracted significant attention for use in optical and electrical devices. TMDCs are also high refractive index materials that can strongly confine the electromagnetic field in nanoscale dimensions when patterned into nanostructures, thus resulting in complex light emission that includes exciton and dielectric resonances. Here, we use cathodoluminescence (CL) to experimentally visualize the emission modes of single molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanoflakes and to investigate luminescence enhancement due to dielectric resonances in nanoscale dimensions, by using a scanning transmission electron microscope. Specifically, we identify dielectric modes whose resonant wavelength is sensitive to the shape and size of the nanoflake, and exciton emission peaks whose energies are insensitive to the geometry of the flakes. Using a four-dimensional CL method and boundary element method simulations, we further theoretically and experimentally visualize the emission polarization and angular emission patterns, revealing the coupling of the exciton and dielectric resonant modes. Such nanoscopic observation provides a detailed understanding of the optical responses of MoS2 including modal couplings of excitons and dielectric resonances which play a crucial role in the development of energy conversion devices, single-photon emitters, and nanophotonic circuits with enhanced light-matter interactions.

Realisation of optical filters using multi-layered thin film coatings by transfer matrix model simulations

Anti-reflection (AR) coatings, distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), Comb filters and dichroic mirrors were designed by multi-layered thin films using transfer matrix model (TMM) simulations. In AR coatings to increase the zero-reflectance window, a tri-layered optical coating with central layer having an optical thickness of λ/2 may be chosen. DBRs and dichroic filters were designed by multilayers of alternating high and low refractive index materials in a periodic pattern. Comb filters were designed by sandwiching a thick transparent layer between two DBRs.

Dinaphtho[2,1-b:1′,2′-d]thiophenes as high refractive index materials exploiting the potential characteristics of “dynamic thiahelicenes”

A dynamic thiahelicene DNT was found to show extra-high refractivity. Derivatization of DNT yielded new vinyl monomers and polymers with excellent properties, indicating DNT as a novel unit structure for halogen-free high refractive index materials.

Physics-informed neural networks for imaging and parameter retrieval of photonic nanostructures from near-field data

In this paper, we develop a deep learning approach for the accurate solution of challenging problems of near-field microscopy that leverages the powerful framework of physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) for the inversion of the complex optical parameters of nanostructured environments. Specifically, we show that PINNs can be flexibly designed based on full-vector Maxwell’s equations to inversely retrieve the spatial distributions of the complex electric permittivity and magnetic permeability of unknown scattering objects in the resonance regime from near-field data. Moreover, we demonstrate that PINNs achieve excellent convergence to the true material parameters under both plane wave and point source (localized) excitations, enabling parameter retrieval in scanning near-field optical microscopy. Our method is computationally efficient compared to traditional data-driven deep learning approaches as it requires only a single dataset for training. Furthermore, we develop and successfully demonstrate adaptive PINNs with trainable loss weights that largely improve the accuracy of the inverse reconstruction for high-index materials compared to standard PINNs. Finally, we demonstrate the full potential of our approach by retrieving the space-dependent permittivity of a three-dimensional unknown object from near-field data. The presented framework paves the way to the development of a computationally driven, accurate, and non-invasive platform for the simultaneous retrieval of the electric and magnetic parameters of resonant nanostructures from measured optical images, with applications to biomedical imaging, optical remote sensing, and characterization of metamaterial devices.

Quasi-bound states in the continuum with high Q-factors in metasurfaces of lower-index dielectrics supported by metallic substrates.

For observing high-Q quasi-bound states in the continuum (BIC), the metasurfaces should be made of high-index materials, restricting their applications due to the limited material functionalities. In this work, we demonstrate that high-Q quasi-BIC can also be obtained by using lower-index dielectrics, provided that the metasurfaces are supported by metallic substrates. Strong field confinement assisted by plasmon excitation on the surface of metallic substrate enables realizing quasi-BIC even when using the lower-index materials such as zinc oxide. The numerical results show that high Q-factors in the order of several hundreds can be obtained with such metasurfaces of lower-index materials. They do not exhibit, however, quasi-BIC when supported by dielectric substrates due to the strong mode leakage originating from the low index contrast. Quite interestingly, metasurfaces made of high-index dielectrics supported by metallic substrates exhibit lower Q-factors compared with the metasurfaces of lower-index dielectrics due to the stronger penetration of mode field into the metallic substrate. The presented results can find important applications for photonic purposes, including efficient UV generation and low-threshold lasing from the lower-index dielectric metasurfaces.

3D Laser Nanoprinting of Optically Functionalized Structures with Effective-Refractive-Index Tailorable TiO2 Nanoparticle-Doped Photoresin.

The advanced direct laser printing of functional devices with tunable effective index is a key research topic in numerous emerging fields, especially in micro-/nano-optics, nanophotonics, and electronics. Photosensitized nanocomposites, consisting of high-index materials (e.g., titanium dioxide, TiO2) embedded in polymer matrix, are emerging as attractive platforms for advanced additive manufacturing. Unfortunately, in the currently applied techniques, the preparation of optically functionalized structures based on these photosensitized nanocomposites is still hampered by many issues like hydrolysis reaction, high-temperature calcinations, and, especially, the complexity of experimental procedures. In this study, we demonstrate a feasible strategy for fabricating micro-/nanostructures with a flexibly manipulated effective refractive index by incorporating TiO2 nanoparticles in the matrix of acrylate resin, i.e., TiO2-based photosensitized nanocomposites. It was found that the effective refractive index of nanocomposite can be easily tuned by altering the concentration of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the monomer matrix. For TiO2 nanoparticle concentrations up to 30 wt%, the refractive index can be increased over 11.3% (i.e., altering from 1.50 of pure monomer to 1.67 at 532 nm). Based on such a photosensitized nanocomposite, the grating structures defined by femtosecond laser nanoprinting can offer vivid colors, ranging from crimson to magenta, as observed in the dark-field images. The minimum printing width and printing resolution are estimated at around 70 nm and 225 nm, indicating that the proposed strategy may pave the way for the production of versatile, scalable, and functionalized opto-devices with controllable refractive indices.

Photonic Nanojet Generation Using Integrated Silicon Photonic Chip with Hemispherical Structures

Photonic nanojet (PNJ) is a tightly focused diffractionless travelling beam generated by dielectric microparticles. The location of the PNJ depends on the refractive index of the material and it usually recedes to the interior of the microparticle when the refractive index is higher than 2, making high index materials unsuitable to produce useful PNJs while high index favours narrower PNJs. Here we demonstrate a design of CMOS compatible high index on-chip photonic nanojet based on silicon. The proposed design consists of a silicon hemisphere on a silicon substrate. The PNJs generated can be tuned by changing the radius and sphericity of the hemisphere. Oblate spheroids generate PNJs further away from the refracting surface and the PNJ length exceeds 17λ when the sphericity of the spheroid is 2.25 The proposed device can have potential applications in focal plane arrays, enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and optofluidic chips.

Particle swarm optimization of polymer-embedded broadband metasurface reflectors

Many single-layer dielectric metasurfaces studied today offer optimal performance by maximizing the refractive index contrast between a meta-atom and a background material, thereby increasing the field confinement and enhancing the optical resonance. Such architectures typically utilize high-index dielectric meta-atoms contrasted against an air background. Patterning can be done through deposition and growth of high-index materials or etching designs into a high-index layer. Unfortunately, such structures may be easily damaged, are susceptible to moisture accumulation, and cannot be readily incorporated into multilayer designs. To improve upon the mechanical and environmental stability of conventional dielectric-in-air metasurfaces, we show that dielectric metasurfaces in a solid host matrix can still achieve large enough resonances to exhibit high reflectance over a broad spectral band. Particle swarm optimization is used to discover different broadband reflector designs, each with different performance advantages including ultra-wide broadband reflectance and polarization independence. All designs exhibit a reflectance of R ≥ ~99% over the range of at least Δλ/λ0 ≥ ~20% centered at the wavelength λ0 = 1.55 µm. Finally, a decoupled method approximation is employed to predict the spectral response for a multilayer stack of metasurfaces, but with the added benefit of a lower computational cost.

Effect of thermal cycling on optical properties of e-beam deposited hafnia thin film

HfO2 thin films have gained much significance in recent years as a promising dielectric material for semiconductor electronics added to their wide applications in the field of optical filters as a high index material. The resistance of HfO2 films to impurity diffusion and intermixing at the interface as well as higher environmental stability have made these films one of the most extensively studied upon materials in laser optics, optical coatings and semiconductor domain. In the present study, Hafnium Oxide film was deposited on glass substrate using reactive oxygenated E-Beam deposition technique with in-situ quartz crystal thickness monitoring to control the film thickness and rate of evaporation. The coated substrate was optically characterized using spectrophotometer and Variable Angle Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (VASE) to determine its transmission spectra as well as optical constants. The coated sample was put under thermal stress testing in a test chamber with temperature variation from -40° to + 65° C in a cyclic manner for 7 cycles with a rate of temperature change of 5° C/minute. The coated sample was again optically characterized to investigate the effect of thermal cycling on its optical performance and physical parameters. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press.

Development of High Refractive Index Materials Including Nanofiller and Having Light Extraction and Gapfill Property Expected to Be Applied to AR/VR

Proceedings of the International Display Workshops Volume 28 (IDW '21),Development of High Refractive Index Materials Including Nanofiller and Having Light Extraction and Gapfill Property Expected to Be Applied to AR/VR

Colossal magnetic fields in high refractive index materials at microwave frequencies

Resonant scattering of electromagnetic waves is a widely studied phenomenon with a vast range of applications that span completely different fields, from astronomy or meteorology to spectroscopy and optical circuitry. Despite being subject of intensive research for many decades, new fundamental aspects are still being uncovered, in connection with emerging areas, such as metamaterials and metasurfaces or quantum and topological optics, to mention some. In this work, we demonstrate yet one more novel phenomenon arising in the scattered near field of medium sized objects comprising high refractive index materials, which allows the generation of colossal local magnetic fields. In particular, we show that GHz radiation illuminating a high refractive index ceramic sphere creates instant magnetic near-fields comparable to those in neutron stars, opening up a new paradigm for creation of giant magnetic fields on the millimeter's scale.

Application of static masking technique in magnetron sputtering technology for the production of linearly variable filters

Variable filters are key components for compact spectral imagers. In this paper, we present a method for the fabrication of linearly variable filters based on Bühler HELIOS machine (plasma assisted reactive magnetron sputtering). These filters are obtained by producing a variation of the thickness of all the layers of the coating, using adapted masks placed in between the sputtering targets for the low and high refractive index materials and the substrates. Variable band pass filter from 550 up to 1000 nm is demonstrated.

High-performance lasers for fully integrated silicon nitride photonics

Silicon nitride (SiN) waveguides with ultra-low optical loss enable integrated photonic applications including low noise, narrow linewidth lasers, chip-scale nonlinear photonics, and microwave photonics. Lasers are key components to SiN photonic integrated circuits (PICs), but are difficult to fully integrate with low-index SiN waveguides due to their large mismatch with the high-index III-V gain materials. The recent demonstration of multilayer heterogeneous integration provides a practical solution and enabled the first-generation of lasers fully integrated with SiN waveguides. However, a laser with high device yield and high output power at telecommunication wavelengths, where photonics applications are clustered, is still missing, hindered by large mode transition loss, non-optimized cavity design, and a complicated fabrication process. Here, we report high-performance lasers on SiN with tens of milliwatts output power through the SiN waveguide and sub-kHz fundamental linewidth, addressing all the aforementioned issues. We also show Hertz-level fundamental linewidth lasers are achievable with the developed integration techniques. These lasers, together with high-Q SiN resonators, mark a milestone towards a fully integrated low-noise silicon nitride photonics platform. This laser should find potential applications in LIDAR, microwave photonics and coherent optical communications.

Optical heating of doped semiconductor nanocylinders supporting quasi-BIC modes

In the recent years, semiconductor and dielectric nanophotonic structures attracted a lot of attention for their resonant optical properties finding applications in thermal tuning and optical heating. Exciting high quality optical modes of both electric and magnetic nature in nanoresonators of high-index materials, one can effectively enhance optical absorption in such structures. Another big advantage of semiconductor materials is the ability to finely control the level of optical losses in visible and near infrared (near-IR) range through varying the doping level. In this work, we show theoretically that by moderate carrier doping of silicon via donors from group V materials one can achieve effective heating of nanoresonators. We show that by tuning the doping level of crystalline silicon supporting high quality non-radiative modes based on quasi bound states in the continuum one can achieve strong heating in near-IR under continuous wave regime illumination. We believe that our finding will pave the way for an efficient semiconductor near-IR all-optical sensors and nanoheaters.

Broadband and Highly Directional Visible Light Scattering by Laser-Splashed Lossless TiO2 Nanoparticles.

All-dielectric nanoparticles, as the counterpart of metallic nanostructures have recently attracted significant interest in manipulating light-matter interaction at a nanoscale. Directional scattering, as an important property of nanoparticles, has been investigated in traditional high refractive index materials, such as silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide in a narrow band range. Here in this paper, we demonstrate that a broadband forward scattering across the entire visible range can be achieved by the low loss TiO2 nanoparticles with moderate refractive index. This mainly stems from the optical interferences between the broadband electric dipole and the magnetic dipole modes. The forward/backward scattering ratio reaches maximum value at the wavelengths satisfying the first Kerker’s condition. Experimentally, the femtosecond pulsed laser was employed to splash different-sized nanoparticles from a thin TiO2 film deposited on the glass substrate. Single particle scattering measurement in both the forward and backward direction was performed by a homemade confocal microscopic system, demonstrating the broadband forward scattering feature. Our research holds great promise for many applications such as light harvesting, photodetection and on-chip photonic devices and so on.

Nearly total optical transmission of linearly polarized light through transparent electrode composed of GaSb monolithic high-contrast grating integrated with gold

Abstract Achieving high transmission of light through a highly conductive structure implemented on a semiconductor remains a challenge in optoelectronics as the transmission is inevitably deteriorated by absorption and Fresnel reflection. There have been numerous efforts to design structures with near-unity transmission, yet they are typically constrained by a trade-off between conductivity and optical transmission. To address this problem, we propose and demonstrate a transmission mechanism enabled by a monolithic GaSb subwavelength grating integrated with Au stripes (metalMHCG). Near-unity transmission of polarized light is achieved by inducing low-quality factor resonance in the air gaps between the semiconductor grating stripes, which eliminates light absorption and reflection by the metal. Our numerical simulation shows 97% transmission of transverse magnetic polarized light and sheet resistance of 2.2 ΩSq−1. The metalMHCG structure was realized via multiple nanopatterning and dry etching, with the largest transmission yet reported of ∼90% at a wavelength of 4.5 µm and above 75% transmission in the wavelength range from 4 to 10 µm and sheet resistance at the level of 26 ΩSq−1. High optical transmission is readily achievable using any high refractive index materials employed in optoelectronics. The design of the metalMHCG is applicable in a wide electromagnetic spectrum from near ultraviolet to infrared.

High-efficiency broadband achromatic metalens for near-IR biological imaging window

Over the past years, broadband achromatic metalenses have been intensively studied due to their great potential for applications in consumer and industry products. Even though significant progress has been made, the efficiency of technologically relevant silicon metalenses is limited by the intrinsic material loss above the bandgap. In turn, the recently proposed achromatic metalens utilizing transparent, high-index materials such as titanium dioxide has been restricted by the small thickness and showed relatively low focusing efficiency at longer wavelengths. Consequently, metalens-based optical imaging in the biological transparency window has so far been severely limited. Herein, we experimentally demonstrate a polarization-insensitive, broadband titanium dioxide achromatic metalens for applications in the near-infrared biological imaging. A large-scale fabrication technology has been developed to produce titanium dioxide nanopillars with record-high aspect ratios featuring pillar heights of 1.5 µm and ~90° vertical sidewalls. The demonstrated metalens exhibits dramatically increased group delay range, and the spectral range of achromatism is substantially extended to the wavelength range of 650–1000 nm with an average efficiency of 77.1%–88.5% and a numerical aperture of 0.24–0.1. This research paves a solid step towards practical applications of flat photonics.

Fundamental Limits to the Refractive Index of Transparent Optical Materials.

Increasing the refractive index available for optical and nanophotonic systems opens new vistas for design, for applications ranging from broadband metalenses to ultrathin photovoltaics to high-quality-factor resonators. In this work, fundamental limits to the refractive index of any material are derived, given only the underlying electron density and either the maximum allowable dispersion or the minimum bandwidth of interest. In the realm of small to modest dispersion, thebounds are closely approached and not surpassed by a wide range of natural materials, showing that nature has already nearly reached a Pareto frontier for refractive index and dispersion. Conversely, for narrow-bandwidth applications, nature does not provide the highly dispersive, high-index materials that thebounds suggest should be possible. The theory of composites to identify metal-based metamaterials that can exhibit small losses and sizeable increases in refractive index over the current best materials is used. Moreover, if the "elusive lossless metal" can be synthesized, it isshown that it would enable arbitrarily high refractive index in the high-dispersion regime, nearly achieving thebounds even at refractive indices of 100 and beyond at optical frequencies.

Manipulation of thermal radiation by using photonic crystals

This paper focuses on manipulating thermal emission and radiation loss of heat energy in a heat waveguide. A One-Dimensional Photonic Crystal is used as a waveguide clad to prohibit the thermal emission from escaping. The model may reduce the radiation loss of heat energy in the waveguide core, and heat energy can be confined to propagate along the waveguide’s longitude axis. The waveguide clad comprises alternative layers of high and low refractive index materials containing sufficient electromagnetic stop bands to trap the thermal emission from escaping out of the waveguide. The numerical simulation of the model shows that the forbidden bandgap of photonic crystal structures with alternative layers of silica and silicon has width enough to make heat energy be confined within the waveguide core so that efficient heat energy transmission can be achieved along the longitude axis of the waveguide.

Single-step-fabricated disordered metasurfaces for enhanced light extraction from LEDs

While total internal reflection (TIR) lays the foundation for many important applications, foremost fibre optics that revolutionised information technologies, it is undesirable in some other applications such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are a backbone for energy-efficient light sources. In the case of LEDs, TIR prevents photons from escaping the constituent high-index materials. Advances in material science have led to good efficiencies in generating photons from electron–hole pairs, making light extraction the bottleneck of the overall efficiency of LEDs. In recent years, the extraction efficiency has been improved, using nanostructures at the semiconductor/air interface that outcouple trapped photons to the outside continuum. However, the design of geometrical features for light extraction with sizes comparable to or smaller than the optical wavelength always requires sophisticated and time-consuming fabrication, which causes a gap between lab demonstration and industrial-level applications. Inspired by lightning bugs, we propose and realise a disordered metasurface for light extraction throughout the visible spectrum, achieved with single-step fabrication. By applying such a cost-effective light extraction layer, we improve the external quantum efficiency by a factor of 1.65 for commercialised GaN LEDs, demonstrating a substantial potential for global energy-saving and sustainability.