High Index Medium Research Articles

Quantification of impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening programmes - a case study from Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Morocco, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

It is quite well documented that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted cancer screening services in all countries, irrespective of their resources and healthcare settings. While quantitative estimates on reduction in volume of screening tests or diagnostic evaluation are readily available from the high-income countries, very little data are available from the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). From the CanScreen5 global cancer screening data repository we identified six LMICs through purposive sampling based on the availability of cancer screening data at least for the years 2019 and 2020. These countries represented those in high human development index (HDI) categories (Argentina, Colombia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) and medium HDI categories (Bangladesh and Morocco). No data were available from low HDI countries to perform similar analysis. The reduction in the volume of tests in 2020 compared to the previous year ranged from 14.1% in Bangladesh to 72.9% in Argentina (regional programme) for cervical screening, from 14.2% in Bangladesh to 49.4% in Morocco for breast cancer screening and 30.7% in Thailand for colorectal cancer screening. Number of colposcopies was reduced in 2020 compared to previous year by 88.9% in Argentina, 38.2% in Colombia, 27.4% in Bangladesh, and 52.2% in Morocco. The reduction in detection rates of CIN 2 or worse lesions ranged from 20.7% in Morocco to 45.4% in Argentina. Reduction of breast cancer detection by 19.1% was reported from Morocco. No association of the impact of pandemic could be seen with HDI categories. Quantifying the impact of service disruptions in screening and diagnostic tests will allow the programmes to strategize how to ramp up services to clear the backlogs in screening and more crucially in further evaluation of screen positives. The data can be used to estimate the impact on stage distribution and avoidable mortality from these common cancers.

Optically resonant all-dielectric diabolo nanodisks

Optically resonant all-dielectric nanostructures attractively exhibit reduced losses compared to their plasmonic counterparts; however, achieving strong field enhancements at the nanoscale, especially within solid-state media, has remained a significant challenge. In this work, we demonstrate how subwavelength modifications to a conventional silicon nanodisk enable strong sub-diffractive and polarization dependent field enhancements in devices supporting Mie resonances, including anapole-like modes. We examine the electromagnetic properties of both individual and arrayed “diabolo nanodisks,” which are found to exhibit |E|2/|E0|2 enhancements in the range ∼102–104, in the high index medium, depending on geometrical considerations. In addition to supporting a localized electric field “hot-spot” similar to those predicted in diabolo nanostructured photonic crystal cavities and waveguide designs, we identify an anti-diabolo effect leading to a broadband “cold-spot” for the orthogonal polarization. These findings offer the prospect of enhancing or manipulating light–matter interactions at the nanoscale within an all-dielectric (metal free) platform for potential applications ranging from non-linear optics to quantum light sources, nano-sensing, nanoparticle-manipulation, and active/tunable metasurfaces.

3D luminescent concentrators.

A solution to develop high-brightness incoherent sources consists in luminescent concentration. Indeed, the absorption/emission process in a high index medium allows us to circumvent the brightness conservation law by the confinement of the light in 1 or 2 dimensions. In practice, Ce-doped luminescent concentrators pumped with InGaN LED exceed LED's brightness by one order of magnitude. This work shows how light confinement in 3 dimensions increases the brightness by an additional order of magnitude. Thanks to an analytical approach validated by experimental results, this concept gives new degrees of freedom for the design of luminescent concentrators and paves the way to a generation of incoherent sources among the brightest ever designed.

Extraordinary wave modes in purely imaginary metamaterials beyond the critical angle.

When waves are incident from a high-index medium to a low one, total reflection occurs commonly for the incidence beyond the critical angle. However, this common sense is broken by a purely imaginary metamaterial (PIM), which also supports a real refraction index yet with pure loss and gain elements in their permittivity and permeability. We find that even beyond the critical angle of a lower-index PIM slab, some extraordinary wave modes including laser, anti-laser, perfect attenuator and perfect amplifier can appear. The general conditions of these wave modes are theoretically given out and the underlying mechanisms are revealed. Also, we study the influence of incident polarizations, geometric thickness and the parameters of the PIM slab on these extraordinary wave modes, with more wave propagation behaviors discovered.

Modification to the Fresnel formulas for amplified or attenuated internal reflection

The present study addresses the question of total internal reflection of a plane wave from an amplifying or attenuating medium. Inspection on the expressions for the modal gain or loss of an asymmetric planar waveguide having an amplifying or attenuating cladding has led us to the coefficients for amplified or attenuated internal reflection. The derived formulas suggest an interpretation that the refracted inhomogeneous plane wave undergoes amplification or attenuation while it travels a distance equal to the Goos–Hänchen shift along the boundary plane before going back into the high-index medium. Furthermore, the evanescent wave in the low-index medium is discussed. Unlike the transparent case, the Poynting vector is shown to have a nonvanishing time-averaged component perpendicular to the boundary plane.

Nearly perfect near-infrared luminescence efficiency of Si nanocrystals: A comprehensive quantum yield study employing the Purcell effect

Thin layers of silicon nanocrystals (SiNC) in oxide matrix with optimized parameters are fabricated by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. These materials with SiNC sizes of about 4.5 nm and the SiO2 barrier thickness of 3 nm reveal external quantum yield (QY) close to 50% which is near to the best chemically synthetized colloidal SiNC. Internal QY is determined using the Purcell effect, i.e. modifying radiative decay rate by the proximity of a high index medium in a special wedge-shape sample. For the first time we performed these experiments at variable temperatures. The complete optical characterization and knowledge of both internal and external QY allow to estimate the spectral distribution of the dark and bright NC populations within the SiNC ensemble. We show that SiNCs emitting at around 1.2–1.3 eV are mostly bright with internal QY reaching 80% at room temperature and being reduced by thermally activated non-radiative processes (below 100 K internal QY approaches 100%). The mechanisms of non-radiative decay are discussed based on their temperature dependence.

Broadband forward scattering from dielectric cubic nanoantenna in lossless media.

Dielectric photonics platform provides unique possibilities to control light scattering via utilizing high-index dielectric nanoantennas with peculiar optical signatures. Despite the intensively growing field of all-dielectric nanophotonics, it is still unclear how surrounding media affect scattering properties of a nanoantenna with complex multipole response. Here, we report on light scattering by a silicon cubic nanoparticle embedded in lossless media, supporting optical resonant response. We show that significant changes in the scattering process are governed by the electro-magnetic multipole resonances, which experience spectral red-shift and broadening over the whole visible and near-infrared spectra as the indices of media increase. Most interestingly, the considered nanoantenna exhibits the broadband forward scattering in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges due to the Kerker-effect in high-index media. The revealed effect of broadband forward scattering is essential for highly demanding applications in which the influence of the media is crucial such as health-care, e.g., sensing, treatment efficiency monitoring, and diagnostics. In addition, the insights from this study are expected to pave the way toward engineering the nanophotonic systems including but not limited to Huygens-metasurfaces in media within a single framework.

Planar plasmonic lens based on circular nanohole in a gold film in visible light range

Plasmonic planar lens consisting of circular nanohole etched on the gold film have been investigated, the proposed plamonic lens was immersed in a high index medium to improve the focusing efficiency. The focal length and the full-width half-maximum beams width of the focal point were calculated in detail. The focal length calculated by FDTD simulation agrees well with Rayleigh–Sommerfeld integral. Moreover, the proposed lens structure is polarization-independent since circularly symmetric. The easy fabricate structure and excellent focusing performance of this plasmonic lens will open new avenues for optical storage and optical integration.

Decoding the Information Contained in Fluorophore Radiation Patterns.

Dipole radiation patterns change when a fluorescent molecule comes close to the boundary between media of different refractive indices. Near-interface molecules emit mostly into the higher-index medium, predominantly around the critical angle. The radiation pattern encodes information about the emitter distance, orientation, and the refractive index of the embedding medium. Analyses of the supercritical angle fluorescence on pupil plane images can retrieve this information and have been applied both for refractometry with subcellular resolution and for the detection of metabolically active cancerous cells. In this issue of ACS Nano, Ferdman et al. employ this strategy in a label-free assay for detecting single bacteria, based on measuring the refractive-index change produced by bacterial growth in a fluorophore-coated microfluidic channel.

Integrating Free-Form Nanostructured GRIN Microlenses with Single-Mode Fibers for Optofluidic Systems

We present both a theoretical and an experimental study of a novel compact lensed fiber system utilizing a nanostructured GRIN lens. The lens can be integrated with an optical fiber, which ensures a unique and efficient focusing in any high index medium, such as a liquid. We use the effective medium approach to design lenses with arbitrary refractive index. To fabricate lenses, we utilize a discrete array of nano-sized rods made of two types of glasses, and apply a standard stack-and-draw fiber drawing technology. The fabricated nanostructured GRIN lenses have a parabolic refractive index profile with a diameter of a standard fiber, very short working distances (55 µm in the air) and a high numerical aperture (NA = 0.16). As a proof-of-concept of the new micro-lensed fiber system, we demonstrate an experiment on optical trapping of micrometer-sized glass beads. We also show that our method is compatible with optical fiber technology and allows for any shape of the refractive index distribution in 2D. Thanks to that a new functionality could be achieved by replacing the GRIN lens with an axicon lens, vortex type elements, micro-lenses arrays or diffraction elements.

Analysis and Design of Photoconductive Antenna Using Spatially Dispersive Graphene Strips with Parallel-Plate Configuration

In this paper, a photoconductive antenna (PCA) is designed using spatially dispersive graphene strips (GSs) with parallel-plate configuration. This configuration maintains the properties of a single GS and at the same time provides more tunability for designing a graphene-based PCA (GPCA). When a GS is surrounded by a high-index media, propagating wave vector along the structure becomes spatially dispersive, because the group velocity of the propagating wave is greatly reduced and it becomes comparable to Fermi velocity in graphene. In this situation, it is necessary to use a nonlocal conductivity model for graphene. In this paper, a nonlocal per unit length circuit model is employed to study wave propagation in the GPCA. In the circuit model, the nonlocal behavior will be modeled via a per unit length quantum capacitance that under certain conditions it is simplified to quantum capacitance in graphene. In deep subwavelength regime, due to strong coupling between GSs in the the double stacked configuration, it can be replaced by a single GS that its conductivity is two times greater than the former case. Finally, the GPCA is fed by a wide-band photocurrent in order to terahertz radiation and detection are investigated.

Enhanced total internal reflection using low-index nanolattice materials.

Low-index materials are key components in integrated photonics and can enhance index contrast and improve performance. Such materials can be constructed from porous materials, which generally lack mechanical strength and are difficult to integrate. Here we demonstrate enhanced total internal reflection (TIR) induced by integrating robust nanolattice materials with periodic architectures between high-index media. The transmission measurement from the multilayer stack illustrates a cutoff at about a 60° incidence angle, indicating an enhanced light trapping effect through TIR. Light propagation in the nanolattice material is simulated using rigorous coupled-wave analysis and transfer matrix methods, which agrees well with experimental data. The demonstration of the TIR effect in this Letter serves as a first step towards the realization of multilayer devices with nanolattice materials as robust low-index components. These nanolattice materials can find applications in integrated photonics, antireflection coatings, photonic crystals, and low-k dielectric.

Higher values of spectral response, absorption coefficient and external quantum efficiency of solar cell in the form of pyramids

This paper presents a study on spectral response, absorption coefficient and external quantum efficiency of solar cell in the form of pyramid [1, 2]. We investigate to what extent and under what conditions we want to take advantage of ray incidence Seven times [3, 4]. It is found that these analyses can be used to determine the optimal surface texture which provides the best light trapping for solar cells in terms of the total internal reflection occurring in the high-index medium at incidence angles larger than the nominal critical angle [3–9]. One of the main contributions of this paper is the analysis and quantification of the influence of the opening between the heads of the two closest pyramids in textured surface for solar cells and its application on the photovoltaic parameters. In this model we show that the material can have seven successive incident ray absorptions instead of five currently, where we changed the direction of the reflected ray, by identifying and install the angle between the two neighbouring pyramids, the incidence angle, the opening between the heads of the two closest pyramids and their height. Thus, with an angle between the two neighbouring pyramid fixed at 12° and for angle of incidence fixed at 84°. For these values of the angle between the two neighbouring pyramids and incidence angle, the opening between the heads of the two closest pyramids fixed at 2.10 μm for a pyramid height of 10 μm. This leads to the largest possible increase in optical efficiency, such as spectral response, Absorption Coefficient and External Quantum Efficiency. The results are in good agreement with the available literature.

Organic wrinkles embedded in high-index medium as planar internal scattering structures for organic light-emitting diodes

Organic wrinkle structures are investigated as an internal scattering layer for the fabrication of highly efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The solution-processed wrinkle structures are planarized with a high-index layer, resulting in a reduced surface roughness and optical haze simultaneously. The OLED device including the wrinkle structures achieved external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 24.2%, corresponding to a 1.24 time enhancement with respect to that of a control device having no internal scattering layer. By attaching a micro lens array (MLA) or a half ball lens (HBL) on the external surface of the substrate, the proposed device exhibits an EQE of 30.5% (1.56 time enhancement) and 41.8% (2.14 time enhancement), respectively. Randomness of the distributed wrinkle structures is shown to provide additional benefits of reduced angular spectral distortion and Lambertian-like emission properties. Trans-scale optical simulation combining wave-optics and the geometrical effect are used for the quantitative analysis of the emission characteristics of the device.

The excitation and detection of a leaky surface electromagnetic wave on a high-index dielectric grating in a prism-coupler geometry

A periodically corrugated interface between vacuum and a high-index dielectric medium supports a p-polarized leaky surface electromagnetic wave whose sagittal plane is perpendicular to the generators of the interface. This wave is bound to the surface in the vacuum region, but radiates into the high-index dielectric medium. We study the excitation of this wave by p-polarized light incident from a prism on whose planar base the highindex dielectric medium in the form of a film is bonded. The unilluminated surface of the film is periodically corrugated, and is in contact with vacuum. Peaks and dips in the dependence of several low-order diffraction efficiencies on the angle of incidence (Wood anomalies) are the signatures of the excitation of the surface wave.

Refraction index sensor based on phase resonances in a subwavelength structure with double period.

In this paper, we numerically demonstrate a refraction index sensor based on phase resonance excitation in a subwavelength-slit structure with a double period. The sensor consists of a metal layer with subwavelength slots arranged in a bi-periodic form, separated from a high refraction index medium. Between the metallic structure and the incident medium, a dielectric waveguide is formed whose refraction index is going to be determined. Variations in the refraction index of the waveguide are detected as shifts in the peaks of transmitted intensity originated by resonant modes supported by the compound metallic structure. At normal incidence, the spectral position of these resonant peaks exhibits a linear or a quadratic dependence with the refraction index, which permits us to obtain the unknown refraction index value with a high precision for a wide range of wavelengths. Since the operating principle of the sensor is due to the morphological resonances of the slits' structure, this device can be scaled to operate in different wavelength ranges while keeping similar characteristics.

Leaky surface electromagnetic waves on a high-index dielectric grating.

We show theoretically that the periodically corrugated surface of a high-index dielectric medium can support a leaky surface electromagnetic wave. This wave is bound to the surface in the vacuum, but radiates into the dielectric. Despite this radiative damping, the surface wave can have a long lifetime.

Robustly Efficient Superfocusing of Immersion Plasmonic Lenses Based on Coupled Nanoslits

We report plasmonic lenses consisting of coupled nanoslits immersed in a high-index medium to obtain the robustly efficient superfocusing. Based on the geometrical optics and the wavefront reconstruction theory, an array of nanoslits perforated in a gold film and a series of spacings between adjacent nanoslits are optimally designed to realize the desired phase modulation for light focusing. The numerical results verify the design of each plasmonic lens in excellent agreement. For the given total phase difference of 2π, the immersion plasmonic lenses with smaller lens aperture can have much better focusing performance than the non-immersion one. A superfocusing spot of λ/4.39 is achieved using an oil immersion plasmonic lens with an aperture size of 4.97λ, resulting in a resolution improvement of 68.9 % compared with the non-immersion lens. Moreover, such superfocusing performance can be still well kept when the structural parameters of the lens, e.g., nanoslit width and metal film thickness, are deviated from the original design, making the final implementation of the superfocusing lenses much easier.

Super-resolution imaging of a single metal layer: high loss but superior resolution

In this work, we re-analyze the influence of the loss on the super-resolution imaging of a single metal layer superlens system and reveal its positive role of the imaging. The analysis is based on the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) theory. We show that SPP mode with high loss could suppress the amplification of evanescent waves and concentrate the energy, thus contribute to the imaging. We propose to surround the metal layer with high index medium to increase the loss of the SPP modes. The proposed structure shows better performance in super-resolution imaging than the low loss cases. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the results by using two-dimensional finite element method.

Fiber Optic Excitation of Silicon Microspheres in Amorphous and Crystalline Fluids

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the optical resonance spectra of free-standing monolithic single crystal silicon microspheres immersed in various amorphous fluids, such as air, water, ethylene glycol, and 4-Cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl nematic liquid crystal. For the various amorphous fluids, morphology-dependent resonances with quality factors on the order of 105 are observed at 1428 nm. The mode spacing is always on the order of 0.23 nm. The immersion in various amorphous fluids affects the spectral response of the silicon microsphere and heralds this technique for use in novel optofluidics applications. Even though the nematic liquid crystal is a highly birefringent, scattering, and high-index optical medium, morphology-dependent resonances with quality factors on the order of 105 are observed at 1300 nm in the elastic scattering spectra of the silicon microsphere, realizing a liquid-crystal-on-silicon geometry. The relative refractive index and the size parameter of the silicon microsphere are the parameters that affect the resonance structure. The more 4-Cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl interacting with the silicon microsphere, the lower the quality factor of the resonances is. The more 4-Cyano-4’-pentylbiphenyl is interacting with the silicon microsphere, the lower the mode spacing Δλ of the resonances is. The silicon microspheres wetted with nematic liquid crystal can be used for optically addressed liquid-crystal-on-silicon displays, light valve applications, or reconfigurable optical networks.