Twist-tunable moir\'e optical resonances

Multilayer stacks of twisted optical metasurfaces are considered as a prospective platform for chiral nanophotonic devices. Such structures are primarily used for the realization of circularly polarized light sources, artificial optical rotation, and circular dichroism. At the same time, the behavior of their hybrid photonic modes is strongly affected by the moir\'e-pattern of superimposed periodic constituents. In this work, we show that moir\'e-periodicity in bilayer dielectric photonic crystal slabs leads to an arise of unlimitedly narrow optical resonances, which are very sensitive to the relative twist and gap width between the sublayers. We demonstrate the structure providing twist-tuning of the hybrid mode wavelength in the range of 300--600~nm with quality factor varying from~$10^2$~up~to~$10^5$ correspondingly. The obtained results pave the wave for the utilization of moir\'e-assisted effects in multilayer photonic crystal slabs

Resonant mode coupling approximation for calculation of optical spectra of photonic crystal slabs. Part II

We propose further development of the resonant mode coupling approximation for the calculation of optical spectra of stacked periodic nanostructures in terms of the scattering matrix. We previously showed that given the resonant input and output vectors as well as background scattering matrices of two subsystems, one can easily calculate those for the combined system comprising two subsystems. It allows us to write a resonant approximation for the combined system and speed up calculation significantly for typical calculation problems. The main drawback of this approach is that the background matrix in such approximation was considered constant which is not always sufficient if the energy range of interest is relatively wide. The aim of this article is to solve this problem by utilizing more complicated approximations for the background matrices. In particular, we show that consideration of energy-dependent correction terms for the background matrices remarkably reduces the resonant energies' calculation error. Here we first consider a linear approximation, and although it is not suitable for large energy ranges, it is used as a base for a piecewise-linear approximation which allows one to keep the approximation error negligibly small with only a few sample points. Moreover, interpolation of the background matrices allows one to apply resonant mode coupling approximation in almost arbitrary large energy ranges. We also consider approximation of background matrices by an arbitrary matrix function and propose a technique to derive the resonant poles in this case. The methods described here could be considered as an alternative approach for calculation of optical spectra stacked systems.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Raman Signal Enhancement Tunable by Gold-Covered Porous Silicon Films with Different Morphology

The ease of fabrication, large surface area, tunable pore size and morphology as well surface modification capabilities of a porous silicon (PSi) layer make it widely used for sensoric applications. The pore size of a PSi layer can be an important parameter when used as a matrix for creating surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) surfaces. Here, we evaluated the SERS activity of PSi with pores ranging in size from meso to macro, the surface of which was coated with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). We found that different pore diameters in the PSi layers provide different morphology of the gold coating, from an almost monolayer to 50 nm distance between nanoparticles. Methylene blue (MB) and 4-mercaptopyridine (4-MPy) were used to describe the SERS activity of obtained Au/PSi surfaces. The best Raman signal enhancement was shown when the internal diameter of torus-shaped Au NPs is around 35 nm. To understand the role of plasmonic resonances in the observed SERS spectrum, we performed electromagnetic simulations of Raman scattering intensity as a function of the internal diameter. The results of these simulations are consistent with the obtained experimental dat

Chiral light in twisted Fabry-P\'erot cavities

Fundamental studies of the interaction of chiral light with chiral matter are important for the development of techniques that allow handedness-selective optical detection of chiral organic molecules. One approach to achieve this goal is the creation of a Fabry-P\'erot cavity that supports eigenmodes with a desired electromagnetic handedness, which interacts differently with left and right molecular enantiomers. In this paper, we theoretically study chiral Fabry-P\'erot cavities with mirrors comprising one-dimensional photonic crystal slabs made of van der Waals As$_2$S$_3$, a material with one of the highest known in-plane anisotropy. By utilizing the anisotropy degree of freedom provided by As$_2$S$_3$, we design Fabry-P\'erot cavities with constitutional and configurational geometrical chiralities. We demonstrate that in cavities with constitutional chirality, electromagnetic modes of left or right handedness exist due to the chirality of both mirrors, often referred to as handedness preserving mirrors in the literature. At the same time, cavities with configurational chirality support modes of both handednesses due to chiral morphology of the entire structure, set by the twist angle between the optical axes of the upper and lower non-chiral anisotropic mirrors. The developed chiral Fabry-P\'erot cavities can be tuned to the technologically available distance between the mirrors by properly twisting them, making such systems a prospective platform for the coupling of chiral light with chiral matter.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figure

The Size Ellect on the Infrared Spectra of Condensed Media Under Conditions of ID, 2D and 3D Dielectric Confinement

A general expression for the dielectric loss spectrum of an absorbing composite medium was obtained from a Maxwell-Garnett general equation. This expression was simplified for the cases of one, two and three dimensional dielectric confinement in both ordered and disordered thin layers, rods (wires) and spheres of absorbing medium which are considered as mesoparticles or mesoscopic molecules. This theoretical approach was verified experimentally using high purity organic liquids with strong absorption bands in the infrared range. Three organic liquids, namely benzene, chloroform and carbon disulphide, were measured in various dielectric confinement configurations using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with a Grazing Angle attachment GATRTM. A significant shift of the resonant absorption band of liquid mesoparticles was observed for various dielectric confinement geometries which is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Possible applications of this work include investigations of industrial smoke, toxic aerosols and liquid droplets