Photonic Crystal Superlattices Research Articles

Preparation of Graded Photonic Structure by using multi-beam interfering method based on dual-parameter hexagonal prism

In this paper, a double-cone interfering system is constructed by using a dual-parameter top-cut hexagonal prism (TCHP), which is independently designed by our group. By using the system, a large area of SU-8 photoresist material is subjected to a single holographic exposure to prepare the gradient photonic crystal (GPC) superlattice structures and array. Through the AFM measurement of the sample, a double-period hexagonal GPC structure with a small lattice of sub-micron size is observed. Compared with the structures obtained by CCD microscope camera system monitoring and theoretical design, the experiment has achieved a relatively good consistency. The method is simple and easy to prepare GPC structures and array in a large area through a single exposure, which provides a new way for the rapid preparation of GPC.

Dispersion of Light in the 1D Photonic Crystal

We propose a novel, Kurosawa-like model to evaluate the 1D (Bragg stack-like) mesoporous aluminium oxide photonic crystal. To do this, we analyze the internal potential of the photonic crystal superlattice and get it describing the set of the medium’s polar oscillators. Unlike the atomic oscillators for a common crystal, these ones are the abstract ones. This way, the real photonic crystal can be dealt as an abstract oscillators’ ensemble. The result is fully agreed with the thermodynamics, and makes the theory very powerful. To obtain the oscillators parameters, we compare the theory with the secondary emission spectrum of the crystal, and get the natural frequency and the force for each oscillator. This phenomenological approach allow us to calculate photonic crystal’s optical characteristics, such as the dispersion law for the light in the nanostructure, the secondary emission spectrum of the composite, the speed of light in the crystal and the effective mass of the speed quanta. We establish the room-temperature Bose-Einstein condensation of polaritons in crystal at the photonic bandgap edge. The results are important to the solid-state detection of paraphotons.

Scalable fabrication of geometry-tunable self-aligned superlattice photonic crystals for spectrum-programmable light trapping

Superlattice photonic crystals (SPhCs) possess considerable potentials as building blocks for constructing high-performance devices because of their great flexibilities in optical manipulation. From the prospective of practical applications, scalable fabrication of SPhCs with large-area uniformity and precise geometrical controllability has been considered as one prerequisite but still remains a challenge. In this work, we developed an anodic aluminum oxide template-guided approach to realize Ni SPhCs with the maximum area (~500 mm2) ever reported. By virtue of the dual-pore self-alignment effect arising from the periodic anodization electric fields, uniform structures over large areas were obtained for Ni SPhCs. Meanwhile, the geometrical parameters for every array of nanopores in terms of pore depth, size, and morphology can be independently controlled due to the sequential pore-opening. Based on the experimental observation about the geometrical dependence of the light absorption for Ni dual-pore SPhCs, we further fabricated Ni SPhCs with simultaneously-shaped nanopores and nanoconcaves, which not only simplified the fabrication process but also achieved omnidirectional stably-strong (~95%) light absorption spectra. Optical simulations elucidated that surface plasmon resonance and cavity resonance are responsible for the strong light trapping. Notably, the fabrication technique is applicable to Ni SPhCs with different periodicities, leading to spectrally programmable light absorption spectra. With Ni SPhCs as solar absorber, the water evaporation efficiency of a solar steam generation system and the open circuit voltage of a solar thermoelectric generator demonstrated 2.3 and 2.5 times improvement, respectively.

Designing the Iridescences of Biopolymers by Assembly of Photonic Crystal Superlattices

AbstractStructural color in naturally occurring systems is generally constituted by nanoscale lattices of biopolymers that generate beautiful iridescences through their regular structures, often interspersed with defects or period mismatch. Taking inspiration from both formats and materials found in Nature, a series of large‐scale, highly reflective biopolymer‐based photonic crystal superlattices constituted by stacking layers of 3D nanoscale lattices with different periodicity is presented. These silk photonic crystal superlattices (SPCSs) are fully composed of naturally derived structural proteins (silk fibroin) and exhibit brilliant structural color while being mechanically flexible. Multi‐stopbands over broad wavelength ranges or single‐stopbands with narrowband spectral responses can be readily realized and precisely controlled by manipulating the hierarchy of the lattice stacks or the repetition periods of the assembled colloidal monolayers. The unique ability to vary the silk protein conformation allows to vary the lattice and controllably “design” the iridescences of the SPCSs with water vapor adding versatility to this biopolymer‐based photonic structure.

High light extraction efficiency into glass substrate in organic light-emitting diodes by patterning the cathode in graded superlattice with dual periodicity and dual basis

The newly discovered graded, superlattice photonic crystals with dual periodicity and dual basis present great opportunity for electromagnetic wave control in photonic devices. These graded superlattices can be holographically fabricated by eight beam interference lithography. We have computed, through electrodynamic simulation, the light extraction efficiency of planar, white organic light-emitting diodes where the Al cathode is patterned with the graded superlattice with dual basis. Two graded super-lattices with four-fold and two-fold symmetries are used to pattern the Al cathode. The decrease in power losses to surface plasmon and waveguide modes is explained by the varying plasmon path length and grating cycle, respectively, in the graded pattern. To the authors' best knowledge, the highest light extraction efficiency of 73.1% into the glass substrate in organic light-emitting diodes has been predicted through simulations.

Analytical approximation for photonic array modes in 1D photonic crystal superlattices.

We present a comprehensive analytical approximation for array modes (both the modal fields and their associated propagation constants) for 1D photonic crystal superlattices (i.e., large periodic arrays of repeated sequences of different coupled waveguides/lasers). In this class, a regular periodicity of a photonic lattice is supplemented with the additional periodicity of a larger scale. Our approximation is a vectorial approach, accounting for the TE and TM polarizations. It can be applied to both the low- and high-contrast photonic devices. We used the model of standing waves for analytical evaluation of envelopes of array modes in a photonic superlattice. Combination of the model of standing waves with the coupled-mode formalism for infinite photonic superlattices allows evaluation of propagation constants of the array modes. Both the evaluations require only a fraction of a second for computation. Still, the results, acquired with the analytical approximation, are very close to those of well-established approaches. Furthermore, for the first time, analytical expressions for the modal fields and propagation constants become available.

Weyl points in photonic-crystal superlattices

We show that Weyl points can be realized in all-dielectric superlattices based on three-dimensional (3D) layered photonic crystals. Our approach is based on creating an inversion-breaking array of weakly-coupled planar defects embedded in a periodic layered structure with a large omnidirectional photonic band gap. Using detailed band structure calculations and tight-binding theory arguments, we demonstrate that this class of layered systems can be tailored to display 3D linear point degeneracies between two photonic bands, without breaking time-reversal symmetry and using a configuration that is readily-accessible experimentally. These results open new prospects for the observation of Weyl points in the near-infrared and optical regimes and for the application of Weyl-physics in integrated photonic devices.

Nanoimprinted superlattice metallic photonic crystal as ultraselective solar absorber

A two-dimensional superlattice metallic photonic crystal (PhC) and its fabrication by nanoimprint lithography on tantalum substrates are presented. The superior tailoring capacity of the superlattice PhC geometry is used to achieve spectrally selective solar absorption optimized for high-temperature and high-efficiency solar-energy-conversion applications. The scalable fabrication route by nanoimprint lithography allows for a high-throughput and high-resolution replication of this complex pattern over large areas. Despite the high fill factor, the pattern of polygonal cavities is accurately replicated into a resist that hardens under ultraviolet radiation over an area of 10 mm2. In this way, cavities of 905 nm and 340 nm width are achieved with a period of 1 μm. After pattern transfer into tantalum via a deep reactive ion-etching process, the achieved cavities are 2.2 μm deep, separated by 85–95 nm wide ridges with vertical sidewalls. The room-temperature reflectance spectra of the fabricated samples show excellent agreement with simulated results, with a high spectral absorptance approaching blackbody absorption in the range from 300 to 1900 nm and a steep cutoff. The calculated solar absorptivity of this superlattice PhC is 96% and its thermal transfer efficiency is 82.8% at an operating temperature of 1500 K and an irradiance of 1000 kW/m2.

Layer‐by‐Layer Approach to (2+1)D Photonic Crystal Superlattice with Enhanced Crystalline Integrity

Large-area polystyrene (PS) colloidal monolayers with high mechanical strength are created by a combination of the air/water interface self-assembly and the solvent vapor annealing technique. Layer-by-layer (LBL) stacking of these colloidal monolayers leads to the formation of (2+1)D photonic crystal superlattice with enhanced crystalline integrity. By manipulating the diameter of PS spheres and the repetition period of the colloidal monolayers, flexible control in structure and stop band position of the (2+1)D photonic crystal superlattice has been realized, which may afford new opportunities for engineering photonic bandgap materials. Furthermore, an enhancement of 97.3% on light output power of a GaN-based light emitting diode is demonstrated when such a (2+1)D photonic crystal superlattice employed as a back reflector. The performance enhancement is attributed to the photonic bandgap enhancement and good angle-independence of the (2+1)D photonic crystal superlattice.

The polaritonic spectrum of two-dimensional photonic crystals based on uniaxial polar materials

We investigate the dispersion relations of two-dimensional photonic crystals made of cylindrical rods of uniaxial polar materials that exhibit transverse phonon-polariton excitations. The rods are considered to be embedded in a dielectric background. The photonic properties are obtained with the use of the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method and the auxiliary differential equation (ADE) technique. The anisotropy of the dielectric function is explicitly considered using an empirical approach that assigns different weights to contributions of the parallel (z) and transversal (t) polaritonic relations. The effective dielectric function is then expressed as a weighted combination of the longitudinal and transversal components: ε(ω)=αzεz(ω)+αtεt(ω). Different sets of values of the coefficients αz and αt have been considered. The frequencies of the allowed electromagnetic modes are determined as the local maxima of the spectral analysis using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The particular case of a square photonic crystal superlattice geometry is analyzed, and input data corresponding to phonon frequencies of wurtzite nitride semiconductors is used. It is shown that larger values of the quantity |νz,T-νt,T| are desirable if the associated dielectric anisotropy is used as a tool for tuning photonic properties in the system.

Photonic crystal microcrystalline silicon solar cells

AbstractEnhancing the absorption of thin‐film microcrystalline silicon solar cells over a broadband range in order to improve the energy conversion efficiency is a very important challenge in the development of low cost and stable solar energy harvesting. Here, we demonstrate that a broadband enhancement of the absorption can be achieved by creating a large number of resonant modes associated with two‐dimensional photonic crystal band edges. We utilize higher‐order optical modes perpendicular to the silicon layer, as well as the band‐folding effect by employing photonic crystal superlattice structures. We establish a method to incorporate photonic crystal structures into thin‐film (~500 nm) microcrystalline silicon photovoltaic layers while suppressing undesired defects formed in the microcrystalline silicon. The fabricated solar cells exhibit 1.3 times increase of a short circuit current density (from 15.0 mA/cm2 to 19.6 mA/cm2) by introducing the photonic crystal structure, and consequently the conversion efficiency increases from 5.6% to 6.8%. Moreover, we theoretically analyze the absorption characteristics in the fabricated cell structure, and reveal that the energy conversion efficiency can be increased beyond 9.5% in a structure less than 1/400 as thick as conventional crystalline silicon solar cells with an efficiency of 24%. © 2015 The Authors. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Superlattice photonic crystal as broadband solar absorber for high temperature operation.

A high performance solar absorber using a 2D tantalum superlattice photonic crystal (PhC) is proposed and its design is optimized for high-temperature energy conversion. In contrast to the simple lattice PhC, which is limited by diffraction in the short wavelength range, the superlattice PhC achieves solar absorption over broadband spectral range due to the contribution from two superposed lattices with different cavity radii. The superlattice PhC geometry is tailored to achieve maximum thermal transfer efficiency for a low concentration system of 250 suns at 1500 K reaching 85.0% solar absorptivity. In the high concentration case of 1000 suns, the superlattice PhC absorber achieves a solar absorptivity of 96.2% and a thermal transfer efficiency of 82.9% at 1500 K, amounting to an improvement of 10% and 5%, respectively, versus the simple square lattice PhC absorber. In addition, the performance of the superlattice PhC absorber is studied in a solar thermophotovoltaic system which is optimized to minimize absorber re-emission by reducing the absorber-to-emitter area ratio and using a highly reflective silver aperture.

Light trapping in ultrathin silicon photonic crystal superlattices with randomly-textured dielectric incouplers

We report here several different superlattice photonic crystal based designs for 200nm thick c-Si solar cells, demonstrating that these structures have the ability to increase broadband absorption from λ = 300nm to 1100nm by more than 100% compared to a planar cell with an optimized anti-reflection coating. We show that adding superlattices into photonic crystals introduces new optical modes that contribute to enhanced absorption. The greatest improvements are obtained when combining a superlattice photonic crystal with a randomly textured dielectric coating that improves incoupling into the modes of the absorbing region. Finally, we show that our design methodology is also applicable to layers 1 to 4 microns in thickness, where absorbed currents competitive with conventional thick Si solar cells may be achieved.

Enhancement of broadband optical absorption in photovoltaic devices by band-edge effect of photonic crystals

We numerically investigate broadband optical absorption enhancement in thin, 400-nm thick microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si) photovoltaic devices by photonic crystals (PCs). We realize absorption enhancement by coupling the light from the free space to the large area resonant modes at the photonic band-edge induced by the photonic crystals. We show that multiple photonic band-edge modes can be produced by higher order modes in the vertical direction of the Si photovoltaic layer, which can enhance the absorption on multiple wavelengths. Moreover, we reveal that the photonic superlattice structure can produce more photonic band-edge modes that lead to further optical absorption. The absorption average in wavelengths of 500-1000 nm weighted to the solar spectrum (AM 1.5) increases almost twice: from 33% without photonic crystal to 58% with a 4 × 4 period superlattice photonic crystal; our result outperforms the Lambertian textured structure.

Analysis of interference between two optical beams in a quasi-zero electric permittivity photonic crystal superlattice

A quasi-zero-average-index photonic crystal structure has been recently demonstrated by using the concept of complementary media. It consists of dielectric photonic crystal superlattices with alternating layers of negative index photonic crystals and positive index dielectric media. This photonic crystal structure has unique optical properties, such as phase-invariant field and self-collimation of light. In particular, the nanofabricated superlattices can be used in chip-scale optical interconnects and interferometers with quasi-zero-average phase difference. However, in potential interconnect applications, crosstalk between neighboring signals needs to be avoided. In this article, we study simulations of the interference of propagating electromagnetic waves in a quasi-zero electric permittivity photonic crystal superlattice. The simulations here are restricted to TM modes, with the main electric field along the vertical direction.

Cavities without confinement barrier in incommensurate photonic crystal superlattices

We design and fabricate cavities without confinement barrier by combining two incommensurate photonic crystal superlattice waveguides in a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab. A resonant mode with a high-quality factor shows up in the pass band of the waveguides. It has nearly no influence on the propagation of the waveguide mode and can be directly coupled with the waveguide mode. The experimental measurement confirms the theoretical prediction of extraordinary coexistence of localized cavity mode and continuous waveguide mode with high coupling efficiency in the same frequency and space regime.

Metal–dielectric photonic crystal superlattice: 1D and 2D models and empty lattice approximation

Abstract Periodic nanostructures are one of the main building blocks in modern nanooptics. They are used for constructing photonic crystals and metamaterials and provide optical properties that can be changed by adjusting the geometrical parameters of the structures. In this paper the optical properties of a photonic crystal slab with a 2D superlattice are discussed. The structure consists of a gold layer with a finite periodic pattern of air holes that is itself repeated periodically with a larger superperiod. We propose simplified 1D and 2D models to understand the physical nature of Wood's anomalies in the optical spectra of the investigated structure. The latter are attributed to the Rayleigh anomalies, surface plasmon Bragg resonances and the hole-localized plasmons.

Mesoscopic Self-Collimation and Slow Light in All-Positive Index Layered Photonic Crystals

We demonstrate a mesoscopic self-collimation effect in photonic crystal superlattices consisting of a periodic set of all-positive index 2D photonic crystal and homogeneous layers. We develop an electromagnetic theory showing that diffraction-free beams are observed when the curvature of the optical dispersion relation is properly compensated for. This approach allows us to combine slow-light regime together with self-collimation in photonic crystal superlattices presenting an extremely low filling ratio in air.

Tailoring the photonic band splitting in metallodielectric photonic crystal superlattices

We experimentally and theoretically investigate the influence of a structured supercell on the band splitting of one-dimensional metallodielectric photonic crystal superlattices. We show that the splitting of the photonic bands can be modified by periodic structuring of the elementary unit cell of the photonic crystal. For our investigation we constructed metallic photonic crystal superlattices by creating supercells from standard photonic crystal building blocks and arranged them at certain distances apart. The optical properties were obtained by conventional angle-resolved white-light transmission measurements.

Zero phase delay in negative-refractive-index photonic crystal superlattices

We show that optical beams propagating in path-averaged zero-index photonic crystal superlattices can have zero phase delay. The nanofabricated superlattices consist of alternating stacks of negative index photonic crystals and positive index homogeneous dielectric media, where the phase differences corresponding to consecutive primary unit cells are measured with integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometers. These measurements demonstrate that at path-averaged zero-index frequencies the phase accumulation remains constant and equal to zero despite the increase in the physical path length. We further demonstrate experimentally that these superlattice zero- bandgaps remain invariant to geometrical changes of the photonic structure and have a center frequency which is deterministically tunable. The properties of the zero- gap frequencies, optical phase, and effective refractive indices are well described by detailed experimental measurements, rigorous theoretical analysis, and comprehensive numerical simulations.