Gap maps and intrinsic diffraction losses in one-dimensional photonic crystal slabs

A theoretical study of photonic bands for one-dimensional (1D) lattices embedded in planar waveguides with strong refractive index contrast is presented. The approach relies on expanding the electromagnetic field on the basis of guided modes of an effective waveguide, and on treating the coupling to radiative modes by perturbation theory. Photonic mode dispersion, gap maps, and intrinsic diffraction losses of quasi-guided modes are calculated for the case of self-standing membranes as well as for Silicon-on-Insulator structures. Photonic band gaps in a waveguide are found to depend strongly on the core thickness and on polarization, so that the gaps for transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes most often do not overlap. Radiative losses of quasi-guided modes above the light line depend in a nontrivial way on structure parameters, mode index and wavevector. The results of this study may be useful for the design of integrated 1D photonic structures with low radiative losses.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Ac conductivity and dielectric properties of CuFe1−xCrxO2 : Mg delafossite

The electrical and dielectric properties of CuFe(1−x)Cr(x)O(2) (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) powders, doped with 3% of Mg and prepared by solid-state reaction, were studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy in the temperature range from −100 to 150 °C. The frequency-dependent electrical and dielectric data have been discussed in the framework of a power law conductivity and complex impedance and dielectric modulus. At room temperature, the ac conductivity behaviour is characteristic of the charge transport in CuFe1−xCrxO2 powders. The substitution of Fe3+ by Cr3+ results in an increase in dc conductivity and a decrease in the Cu+–Cu+ distance. Dc conductivity, characteristic onset frequency and Havriliak–Negami characteristics relaxation times are thermally activated above −40 °C for x = 0.835. The associated activation energies obtained from dc and ac conductivity and from impedance and modulus losses are similar and show that CuFe1−xCrxO2 delafossite powders satisfy the BNN relation. Dc and ac conductivities have the same transport mechanism, namely thermally activated nearest neighbour hopping and tunnelling hopping above and below −40 °C, respectively

Difference between penetration and damping lengths in photonic crystal mirrors

Different mirror geometries in two-dimensional photonic crystal slabs are studied with fully-vectorial calculations. We compare their optical properties and, in particular, we show that, for heterostructure mirrors, the penetration length associated with the delay induced by distributed reflection is not correlated to the characteristic damping length of the electromagnetic energy distribution in the mirror. This unexpected result evidences that the usual trade-off between short damping lengths and large penetration lengths that is classically encountered in distributed Bragg reflectors can be overcome with carefully designed photonic crystal structures.Comment: to be published in Applied Physics Letters, 4 pages, 4 figure

Development and validation of a numerical tool for the simulation of the temperature field and infrared radiance rendering in an urban scene

International audienceWe present a numerical tool aimed at simulating infrared images of an urban environment, by solving the direct heat transfer problem, and then computing the radiance rendering at the sensor level. SOLENE (Cerma, Nantes) was coupled with two software packages developed at ONERA: SUSHI (Simulation in Urban Scene of Heat dIffusion) and MOHICANS (MOdélisation Hyperspectrale d'Images en entrée Capteur pour l'ANalyse et l'inversion du Signal) for realizing this task. SUSHI is also used for computing the surface temperatures: either a 1D model or a 2D model is used. We present the whole software chain, its validation by software and experimental analysis

Analysis of surface waves generated on subwavelength-structured silver films

Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to analyse the physical-chemical surface properties of subwavlength structured silver films and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations of the optical response of these structures to plane-wave excitation, we report on the origin and nature of the persistent surface waves generated by a single slit-groove motif and recently measured by far-field optical interferometry. The surface analysis shows that the silver films are free of detectable oxide or sulfide contaminants, and the numerical simulations show very good agreement with the results previously reported.Comment: 9 Figure

Synapse-specific expression of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in neocortical layer 5

In the hippocampus, calcium‐permeable AMPA receptors have been found in a restricted subset of neuronal types that inhibit other neurons, although their localization in the neocortex is less well understood. In the present study, we looked for calcium‐permeable AMPA receptors in two distinct populations of neocortical inhibitory neurons: basket cells and Martinotti cells. We found them in the former but not in the latter. Furthermore, in basket cells, these receptors were associated with particularly fast responses. Computer modelling predicted (and experiments verified) that fast calcium‐permeable AMPA receptors enable basket cells to respond rapidly, such that they promptly inhibit neighbouring cells and shut down activity. The results obtained in the present study help our understanding of pathologies such as stroke and epilepsy that have been associated with disordered regulation of calcium‐permeable AMPA receptors

Surface plasmons of metallic surfaces perforated by nanoholes

Recent works dealt with the optical transmission on arrays of subwavelength holes perforated in a thick metallic film. We have performed simulations which quantitatively agree with experimental results and which unambiguously evidence that the extraordinary transmission is due to the excitation of a surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) mode on the metallic film interfaces. We identify this SPP mode and show that its near-field possesses a hybrid character, gathering collective and localised effects which are both essential for the transmission.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure