Studies of metamaterial structures

Imperial Users onl

Method of Moments and T-matrix Hybrid

Hybrid computational schemes combining the advantages of a method of moments formulation of a field integral equation and T-matrix method are developed in this paper. The hybrid methods are particularly efficient when describing the interaction of electrically small complex objects and electrically large objects of canonical shapes such as spherical multi-layered bodies where the T-matrix method is reduced to the Mie series making the method an interesting alternative in the design of implantable antennas or exposure evaluations. Method performance is tested on a spherical multi-layer model of the human head. Along with the hybrid method, an evaluation of the transition matrix of an arbitrarily shaped object is presented and the characteristic mode decomposition is performed, exhibiting fourfold numerical precision as compared to conventional approaches.Comment: 15 pages, 19 figures, 3 table

A Review of Metamaterial Invisibility Cloaks

The exciting features of metamaterial in conjunction with transformation optics leads to various applications in the microwave regime with such examples as invisible cloak, frequency selective surfaces (FSS), radomes, etc. The concept of electromagnetic invisibility is very much important in aerospace platform. Hence to study the feasibility of implementation of this concept for stealth, an extensive literature survey of metamaterial cloaks has been carried out and reported in this paper along with the basic concept of cloaking. To make the review more effective, the technical papers are classified into three broad sections viz. mathematical modeling, design and simulations, and fabrications and experimental demonstration. Further the design and simulation is focused on different techniques implemented such as finite difference time domain (FDTD), finite element method (FEM), finite integration technique (FIT), inductor-capacitor representation of metamaterial (LC MTM) etc. The review also reports the methods implemented for analysis of metamaterial cloaks with possibility of application to the specific frequency rang

Computational Explorations of Enhanced Nonlinearities and Quantum Optical Effects in Photonic Nanostructures

In this thesis, we present a comprehensive theoretical analysis and computataional study of optical nonlinearities in the graphene-based and silicon-based metamaterials. The novel numerical methods and corresponding results described in this work give a significant impact on our understanding of surface plasmon resonance in artificial optical materials, which facilitates the design and fabrication of new photonic devices with enhanced nonlinear optical functionalities. // Two generic nonlinear metasurfaces are elaborated in this dissertation, namely, graphene-based metasurfaces and silicon-based metasurfaces. Employing a novel homogenization technique, the effective second-order susceptibility of graphene metasurfaces is calculated, which can be enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude as compared to the intrinsic value of graphene sheet. There is excellent agreement between the predictions of the homogenization method and those based on rigorous numerical solutions of Maxwell equations. Moreover, we also illustrate that the effective Raman susceptibilities of silicon-based metasurfaces can be enhanced by 3 to 4 orders of magnitude as compared to the intrinsic value of silicon. Even though the homogenization method for silicon-based metasurfaces is not as accurate as graphene-based, this result still gives a qualitative analysis on the effective Raman susceptibility of silicon-based metasurfaces. // Additionally, the optical nonlinearity is utilized to design a two-mode quantum waveguide made of coupled silicon photonic crystal nanocavities in the last part of the thesis. Finally, we also explore the implications of our work to the development of new active photonic nano devices with new or improved functionalities

Numerical and Analytical Methods in Electromagnetics

Like all branches of physics and engineering, electromagnetics relies on mathematical methods for modeling, simulation, and design procedures in all of its aspects (radiation, propagation, scattering, imaging, etc.). Originally, rigorous analytical techniques were the only machinery available to produce any useful results. In the 1960s and 1970s, emphasis was placed on asymptotic techniques, which produced approximations of the fields for very high frequencies when closed-form solutions were not feasible. Later, when computers demonstrated explosive progress, numerical techniques were utilized to develop approximate results of controllable accuracy for arbitrary geometries. In this Special Issue, the most recent advances in the aforementioned approaches are presented to illustrate the state-of-the-art mathematical techniques in electromagnetics

Characterisations of EM waves in canonical structures with radomes or coating shell

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Integral Identities for Passive Systems and Spherical Waves in Scattering and Antenna Problems

Sum rules and physical limitations within electromagnetic theory and antenna theory have received significant attention in the last few years. However, the derivations are often relying on application specific and sometimes unsupported assumptions, and therefore a mathematically rigorous and generally applicable approach seems timely. Such an approach is presented in this thesis, along with examples and all the necessary proofs. The approach is also applied in the thesis to derive sum rules and physical limitations on electromagnetic spherical wave scattering. This has not been done before, despite the widespread use of spherical wave decompositions. For example, spherical waves and the antenna scattering matrix provide a complete and compact description of all the important properties of an antenna, are crucial parts in spherical near-field antenna measurements, and have been used recently to model antenna-channel interaction and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems. This thesis is also the first to present a method to estimate spherical wave coefficients from propagation channel measurements. The results of this thesis can roughly be divided into three categories: Firstly, a general approach to derive sum rules and physical limitations on input-output systems based on the assumptions of causality and passivity is presented (Paper I). Secondly, sum rules and physical limitations on the scattering and matching of electromagnetic spherical waves are derived, and the implications for antennas are explored (Papers II-IV). Thirdly, a method to estimate spherical wave coefficients from channel measurements, and the results of a measurement campaign, are presented and analysed (Paper V). The thesis consists of a General Introduction and five appended papers

Electrospun Conjugated Polymer/Fullerene Hybrid Fibers: Photoactive Blends, Conductivity through Tunnelling-AFM, Light-Scattering, and Perspective for Their Use in Bulk-Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells

Hybrid conjugated polymer/fullerene filaments based on MEH-PPV/PVP/PCBM are prepared by electrospinning, and their properties assessed by scanning electron, atomic and lateral force, tunnelling, and confocal microscopy, as well as by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence quantum yield and spatially-resolved fluorescence. Highlighted features include ribbon-shape of the realized fibers, and the persistence of a network serving as a template for heterogeneous active layers in solar cell devices. A set of favorable characteristics is evidenced in this way in terms of homogeneous charge transport behavior and formation of effective interfaces for diffusion and dissociation of photogenerated excitons. The interaction of the organic filaments with light, exhibiting specific light-scattering properties of the nanofibrous mat, might also contribute to spreading incident radiation across the active layers, thus potentially enhancing photovoltaic performance. This method might be applied to other electron donor-electron acceptor material systems for the fabrication of solar cell devices enhanced by nanofibrillar morphologies embedding conjugated polymers and fullerene compounds.Comment: 35 pages, 9 figure