Manipulation of Asymmetric Transmission in Planar Chiral Nanostructures by Anisotropic Loss

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Planar chiral structures may provide asymmetric transmission for circularly polarized optical waves at normal incidence if the structures are anisotropic and lossy, but the role of loss has not yet been clarified. Here, a typical planar chiral structure is studied, and the mechanism of asymmetric transmission is analyzed. It is demonstrated for the first time that asymmetric transmission can be manipulated by changing the anisotropy of loss. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

AlxGa1-xN-based avalanche photodiodes with high reproducible avalanche gain

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The authors report high performance solar-blind photodetectors with reproducible avalanche gain as high as 1560 under ultraviolet illumination. The solar-blind photodetectors have a sharp cutoff around 276 nm. The dark currents of the 40 m diameter devices are measured to be lower than 8 fA for bias voltages up to 20 V. The responsivity of the photodetectors is 0.13 A/W at 272 nm under 20 V reverse bias. The thermally limited detectivity is calculated as D*=1.4 1014 cm Hz1/2 W−1 for a 40 m diameter device

Absorption enhancement in InGaN-based photonic crystal-implemented solar cells

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We investigate the absorption characteristics of InGaN solar cells with high indium (0.8) content and a one-dimensional periodic nano-scale pattern (implemented) in the InGaN layer theoretically. The short-circuit current of our InGaN-based solar cell structure is calculated for different lattice constant, etch depth, and fill factor values. A substantial increase in the absorption (17.5% increase in short-circuit current) is achieved when the photonic crystal pattern is thoroughly optimized. (c) 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.JNP.6.061603

Experimental realization of a high-contrast grating based broadband quarter-wave plate

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Fabrication and experimental characterization of a broadband quarter-wave plate, which is based on two-dimensional and binary silicon high-contrast gratings, are reported. The quarter-wave plate feature is achieved by the utilization of a regime, in which the proposed grating structure exhibits nearly total and approximately equal transmission of transverse electric and transverse magnetic waves with a phase difference of approximately pi/2. The numerical and experimental results suggest a percent bandwidth of 42% and 33%, respectively, if the operation regime is defined as the range for which the conversion efficiency is higher than 0.9. A compact circular polarizer can be implemented by combining the grating with a linear polarizer. (C) 2012 Optical Society of Americ

100 GHz resonant cavity enhanced Schottky photodiodes

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) photodiodes are promising candidates for applications in optical communications and interconnects where ultrafast high-efficiency detection is desirable. We have designed and fabricated RCE Schottky photodiodes in the (Al, In) GaAs material system for 900-nm wavelength. The observed temporal response with 10-ps pulsewidth was limited by the measurement setup and a conservative estimation of the bandwidth corresponds to more than 100 GHz. A direct comparison of RCE versus conventional detector performance was performed by high speed measurements under optical excitation at resonant wavelength (895 nm) and at 840 nm where the device functions as a single-pass conventional photodiode. A more than two-fold bandwidth enhancement with the RCE detection scheme was demonstrated

Integrated AlGaN quadruple-band ultraviolet photodetectors

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Monolithically integrated quadruple back-illuminated ultraviolet metalsemiconductormetal photodetectors with four different spectral responsivity bands were demonstrated on each of two different Al xGa 1-xN heterostructures. The average of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the quantum efficiency peaks was 18.15nm for sample A, which incorporated five 1000nm thick epitaxial layers. In comparison, the average FWHM for sample B was 9.98 nm, which incorporated nine 500nm thick epitaxial layers. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd

Solar-blind AlxGa1-xN-based avalanche photodiodes

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We report the Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) growth, fabrication, and characterization of solar blind AlxGa1-xN/GaN-based avalanche photodiodes. The photocurrent voltage characteristics indicate a reproducible avalanche gain higher than 25 at a 72 V applied reverse bias. Under a 25 V reverse bias voltage, the 100 mu m diameter devices had a maximum quantum efficiency of 55% and a peak responsivity of 0.11 A/W at 254 nm, and a NEP of 1.89x10(-16) W/Hz(1/2). (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics

AlxGa1-xN-based avalanche photodiodes with high reproducible avalanche gain

We report high performance solar-blind photodetectors with reproducible avalanche gain as high as 1570 under ultraviolet illumination. The solar-blind photodetectors have a sharp cut-off around 276 nm. The dark currents of the 40 μm diameter devices are measured to be lower than 8 femto-amperes for bias voltages up to 20 V. The responsivity of the photodetectors is 0.13 A/W at 272 nm under 20 V reverse bias. The thermally limited detectivity is calculated as D* = 1.4 × 1014 cm Hz1/2 W-1 for a 40 μm diameter device. © 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Design and Optimization of High-Speed Resonant Cavity Enhanced Schottky Photodiodes

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) photodiodes (PD’s) are promising candidates for applications in optical communications and interconnects where high-speed high-efficiency photodetection is desirable. In RCE structures, the electrical properties of the photodetector remain mostly unchanged; however, the presence of the microcavity causes wavelength selectivity accompanied by a drastic increase of the optical field at the resonant wavelengths. The enhanced optical field allows to maintain a high efficiency for faster transit-time limited PD’s with thinner absorption regions. The combination of an RCE detection scheme with Schottky PD’s allows for the fabrication of high-performance photodetectors with relatively simple material structures and fabrication processes. In top-illuminated RCE Schottky PD’s, a semitransparent Schottky contact can also serve as the top reflector of the resonant cavity. We present theoretical and experimental results on spectral and high-speed properties of GaAs–AlAs–InGaAs RCE Schottky PD’s designed for 900-nm wavelength

Broadband quarter-wave plates at near-infrared using high-contrast gratings

In this paper, we report the theoretical and experimental possibility of achieving a quarter-wave plate regime by using high-contrast gratings, which are binary, vertical, periodic, near-wavelength, and two-dimensional high refractive index gratings. Here, we investigate the characteristics of two distinct designs, the first one being composed of silicon-dioxide and silicon, and the second one being composed of silicon and sapphire. The suggested quarter-wave plate regime is achieved by the simultaneous optimization of the transverse electric and transverse magnetic transmission coefficients, TTE and TTM, respectively, and the phase difference between these transmission coefficients, such that |TTM| ≅ |TTE| and \TTM - \TTE ≅ -/2. As a result, a unity circular polarization conversion efficiency is achieved atλ0 = 1.55 μm for both designs. For the first design, we show the obtaining of unity conversion efficiency by using a theoretical approach, which is inspired by the periodic waveguide interpretation, and rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). For the second design, we demonstrate the unity conversion efficiency by using the results of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. Furthermore, the FDTD simulations, where material dispersion is taken into account, suggest that an operation percent bandwidth of 51% can be achieved for the first design, where the experimental results for the second design yield a bandwidth of 33%. In this context, we define the operation regime as the wavelength band for which the circular conversion efficiency is larger than 0.9. © 2013 SPIE