Optical characterization of light-bending mechanisms in photonic crystals with simple cubic symmetry
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Authors
Frey, Brian James
Issue Date
2017-05
Type
Electronic thesis
Thesis
Thesis
Language
ENG
Keywords
Physics
Alternative Title
Abstract
In this work, a TiO₂ simple cubic PC with high dielectric contrast ( > 4:1) is fabricated with a lattice constant of 450 nm, and a newly discovered light-trapping mechanism is demonstrated, which bends light by 90 degrees and enhances optical absorption by one to two orders-of-magnitude over that in a reference film of the same thickness. It is shown that, for wavelengths from 450-950 nm, the achievable enhancement factor for this structure surpasses the theoretical limit of 4n₂ derived under the assumption of ergodic system by multiple times. These results derive directly from the symmetry of the simple cubic lattice and are fundamental in nature, not depending on the material used or on the method of fabrication. The light trapping capability of these PCs has straight-forward applications that would be useful in a variety of areas where increased light-matter interaction is desirable, such as white-light generation, thin-film solar cells, photocatalytic pollutant degradation and hydrogen fuel production, and chemical sensing.
Description
May 2017
School of Science
School of Science
Full Citation
Publisher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY