Periodic transmission peak splitting in one dimensional disordered photonic structures

In the present paper we present ways to modulate the periodic transmission peaks arising in disordered one dimensional photonic structures with hundreds of layers. Disordered structures in which the optical length nd (n is the refractive index and d the layer thickness) is the same for each layer show regular peaks in their transmission spectra. A proper variation of the optical length of the layers leads to a splitting of the transmission peaks. Notably, the variation of the occurrence of high and low refractive index layers, gives a tool to tune also the width of the peaks. These results are of highest interest for optical application, such as light filtering, where the manifold of parameters allows a precise design of the spectral transmission ranges.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Photo-thermal effect with photonic crystals for photocatalysis and water desalination

The demand of water is absolutely important for irrigation, industrial processes and domestic use. An interesting strategy to cope with the increasing water need is water desalination, which can be pursued with several strategies. Usually, the energy requirement of desalination plants is rather high. Membrane distillation is a good alternative, but it requires a non negligible amount of energy to heat the input water. Photothermal effects that exploit photonic structures can overcome this problem. In this review, we report significant works that employ photonic devices for water desalination. Moreover, we envisage the use of low-cost and easy-to-design one-dimensional photonic crystals and random photonic structures as photothermal devices

Black Phosphorus based One-dimensional Photonic Crystals and Microcavities

The latest achievements in the fabrication of black phosphorus thin layers, towards the technological breakthrough of a phosphorene atomically thin layer, are paving the way for a their employment in electronics, optics, and optoelectronics. In this work, we have simulated the optical properties of one-dimensional photonic structures, i.e. photonic crystals and microcavities, in which few-layer black phosphorus is one of the components. The insertion of the 5 nm black phosphorous layers leads to a photonic band gap in the photonic crystals and a cavity mode in the microcavity interesting for light manipulation and emission enhancement.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Role of the annealing parameters on the resistance of indium tin oxide nanocrystalline films

The optical and electrical properties of films made of nanoparticles of indium tin oxide (ITO) are widely studied because of the significance of this material for transparent electrodes, smart windows, and nonlinear optics components. In this work, a systematic study of the resistance in ITO nanocrystalline films, as a function of post-fabrication parameters, such as the temperature and time of annealing, has been performed. A tunability of the resistance with the annealing parameters, in a range of three orders of magnitude, has been demonstrated. The optical properties of the nanocrystalline films were also evaluated as a function of the same parameters. Results show a different influence of temperature and time on the modification of the absorption properties. Temperature and time can be used synergistically to obtain thin films with desired optical and electrical properties through post-fabrication treatments

One Dimensional Polymeric Organic Photonic Crystals for DFB Lasers

We present a very simple method to realize a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D PC), consisting of a dye-doped polymeric multilayer. Due to the high photonic density of states at the edges of the photonic band-gap (PBG), a surface emitting distributed feedback (DFB) laser is obtained with this structure. Furthermore, the incidence angle dependence of the PBG of the polymeric multilayer is reported

Ultrafast broadband optical modulation in indium tin oxide/titanium dioxide 1D photonic crystal

Photonic crystals can integrate plasmonic materials such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) in their structure. Exploiting ITO plasmonic properties, it is possible to tune the photonic band gap of the photonic crystal upon the application of an external stimuli. In this work, we have fabricated a one-dimensional multilayer photonic crystal alternating ITO and Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) via radio frequency sputtering and we have triggered its optical response with ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy. Upon photoexcitation, we observe a change in the refractive index of ITO. Such an effect has been used to create a photonic crystal that changes its photonic bandgap in an ultrafast time scale. All optical modulation in the visible region, that can be tuned by designing the photonic crystal, has been demonstrated

Colloidal CuFeS2 Nanocrystals: Intermediate Fe d-Band Leads to High Photothermal Conversion Efficiency

We describe the colloidal hot-injection synthesis of phase-pure nanocrystals (NCs) of a highly abundant mineral, chalcopyrite (CuFeS2). Absorption bands centered at around 480 and 950 nm, spanning almost the entire visible and near infrared regions, encompass their optical extinction characteristics. These peaks are ascribable to electronic transitions from the valence band (VB) to the empty intermediate band (IB), located in the fundamental gap and mainly composed of Fe 3d orbitals. Laser-irradiation (at 808 nm) of an aqueous suspension of CuFeS2 NCs exhibited significant heating, with a photothermal conversion efficiency of 49%. Such efficient heating is ascribable to the carrier relaxation within the broad IB band (owing to the indirect VB-IB gap), as corroborated by transient absorption measurements. The intense absorption and high photothermal transduction efficiency (PTE) of these NCs in the so-called biological window (650-900 nm) makes them suitable for photothermal therapy as demonstrated by tumor cell annihilation upon laser irradiation. The otherwise harmless nature of these NCs in dark conditions was confirmed by in vitro toxicity tests on two different cell lines. The presence of the deep Fe levels constituting the IB is the origin of such enhanced PTE, which can be used to design other high performing NC photothermal agents.Comment: 12 pages, Chemistry of Materials, 31-May-201

Large scale indium tin oxide (ITO) one dimensional gratings for ultrafast signal modulation in the visible spectral region

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a heavily doped semiconductor with a plasmonic response in the near infrared region. When exposed to light, the distribution of conduction band electron induces a change in the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric permittivity. The coupling of the electromagnetic waves with the electrons in the conduction band of metallic nanostructures with ultrashort light pulses results in a nonlinear plasmonic response. Such optical modulation occurring on ultrafast time scales, e.g. picosecond response times, can be exploited and used to create integrated optical components with terahertz modulation speed. Here, we present a photophysical study on a one dimensional ITO grating, realized using a femtosecond micromachining process, a very industrially accessible technology. The geometries, dimensions and pitch of the various gratings analyzed are obtained by means of direct ablation in a controlled atmosphere of a homogeneous thin layer of ITO deposited on a glass substrate. The pitch has been selected in order to obtain a higher order of the photonic band gap in the visible spectral region. Femtosecond micromachining technology guarantees precision, repeatability and extreme manufacturing flexibility. By means of ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy, we characterize both the plasmon and inter-band temporal dynamics. We observe a large optical nonlinearity of the ITO grating in the visible range, where the photonic band gap occurs, when pumped at the surface plasmon resonance in the near infrared (1500 nm) region. All together, we show the possibility of all-optical signal modulation with heavily doped semiconductors in their transparency window with a picosecond response time through the formation of ITO grating structures