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Keywords
Using effective medium theories to design tailored nanocomposite materials for optical systems
(2018)
Benchmarking state-of-the-art optical simulation methods for analyzing large nanophotonic structures
(2018)
Light Management for Engineering Luminescence in Nanoscale Environments By Numerical Optimization
(2018)
Benchmarking five computational methods for analyzing large photonic crystal membrane cavities
(2017)
The interaction of light and chiral matter is subject of recent research both in fundamental science and applications.
Among these are the helicity of electromagnetic fields described with the optical chirality density and emitters sensitive to
circular polarization employed in quantum communications.
In the weak coupling regime of chiral emitters, we analyze the conversion of chirality which can be regarded as an analogue
to absorption of energy describing the change of circular polarization of the incident field. This enables the tailoring of
chiral near-fields close to metamaterials, e.g. composed of gold helices, and gives insights into extinction measurements
such as circular dichroism.
We show relation of the weak and strong coupling regime. The latter can be modelled with cross electric-magnetic polarizabilities or
with effective chiral materials, i.e. bi-anisotropic media. Accordingly, we motivate the necessity for rigorous numerical
simulations to accurately describe chiral light-matter interaction.
The helicity of light is of great interest
in both fundamental research and in applications such as dichroism spectroscopy. Its
time-harmonic formulation is directly proportional to the density of optical chirality.
Recently, both an helicity optical theorem
(HOT) and a chirality conservation law
(CCL) have been formulated for arbitrary
scatterers taking into account an underlying
continuity equation of this quantity. We
summarize these two equivalent fundamental laws and analyze their potential applications.
Gaining insights into the working principles of photocatalysts on an atomic scale is a challenging task. The obviously high complexity of the reaction mechanism involving photo-excited electrons and holes is one reason. Another complicating aspect is that the electromagnetic field, driving photocatalysis, is not homogeneous on a nanoscale level for particle based catalysts as it is influenced by the particle’s shape and size.
We present a simple model, inspired by the CO2 reduction on titania anatase, which addresses the impact of these heterogeneities on the photocatalytic kinetics by combining kinetic Monte Carlo with electromagnetic wave simulations. We find that average activity and especially efficiency might differ significantly between different particles. Moreover, we find sizable variation of the catalytic activity on a single facet of a nanocrystal. Besides this quantitative heterogeneity, the coverage situation in general changes laterally on this facet and we observe a concomitant change of the rate-determining steps.
This heterogeneity on all levels of photocatalytic activity is masked in experimental studies, where only the spatially averaged activity can be addressed. Microkinetic models based on experimental findings might therefore not represent the true micro- scopic behavior, and mechanistic conclusion drawn from these need to be handled with care.
We present a Newton-like method to solve inverse problems and to quantify parameter uncertainties. We apply the method to parameter reconstruction in optical scatterometry, where we take into account a priori information and measurement uncertainties using a Bayesian approach. Further, we discuss the influence of numerical accuracy on the reconstruction result.
The introduction of the near-field quantity of optical chirality has emerged in various numerical and few experimental studies of local chirality enhancement due to its relation to the excitation rate of chiral molecules. This time-even pseudoscalar has been dismissed as being a higher-order version of helicity. Nevertheless, we revisit the derivation of the underlying conservation law and define optical chirality in media similar to. We identify the mechanism of chirality conversion by either inhomogeneous or anisotropic space to complement the conservation of optical chirality.
The conservation law of optical chirality in arbitrary space enables the extension of the concept of polarization to the near-field where no distiniguished propagation direction of light is present. We show that the connection of electromagnetic energy and optical chirality provide the ability to define a circular polarization basis in time-harmonic near-field analysis.
In order to illustrate our theory, we present electromagnetic field simulations of simple as well as more complex nanostructures. Results using the well-known far-field polarization concept are readily reproduced and extended from the point of view of chirality conversion.
Reconstruction of photonic crystal geometries using a reduced basis method for nonlinear outputs
(2016)
Maxwell solvers based on the hp-adaptive finite element method allow for accurate geometrical modeling and high numerical accuracy. These features are indispensable for the optimization of optical properties or reconstruction of parameters through inverse processes. High computational complexity prohibits the evaluation of the solution for many parameters. We present a reduced basis method (RBM) for the time-harmonic electromagnetic scattering problem allowing to compute solutions for a parameter configuration orders of magnitude faster. The RBM allows to evaluate linear and nonlinear outputs of interest like Fourier transform or the enhancement of the electromagnetic field in milliseconds. We apply the RBM to compute light-scattering off two dimensional photonic crystal structures made of silicon and reconstruct geometrical parameters.
Model order reduction for the time-harmonic Maxwell equation applied to complex nanostructures
(2016)
Fields such as optical metrology and computational lithography require fast and efficient methods for solving the time-harmonic Maxwell's equation. Highly accurate geometrical modelling and numerical accuracy at low computational costs are a prerequisite for any simulation study of complex nano-structured photonic devices. We present a reduced basis method (RBM) for the time-harmonic electromagnetic scattering problem based on the hp-adaptive finite element solver JCMsuite capable of handling geometric and non-geometric parameter dependencies allowing for online evaluations in milliseconds. We apply the RBM to compute light-scattering at optical wavelengths of periodic arrays of fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) where geometrical properties such as the width and height of the fin and gate can vary in a large range.
Optical 3D simulations in many-query and real-time contexts require new solution strategies. We study an adaptive, error controlled reduced
basis method for solving parametrized time-harmonic optical scattering problems. Application fields are, among others, design and optimization problems
of nano-optical devices as well as inverse problems for parameter reconstructions occurring e. g. in optical metrology. The reduced basis method pre-
sented here relies on a finite element modeling of the scattering problem with
parametrization of materials, geometries and sources.
Determining 2D photonic crystal geometries from reflectance spectra with a reduced basis method
(2016)
Model order reduction for the time-harmonic Maxwell equation applied to complex nanostructures
(2016)
Fields such as optical metrology and computational lithography require fast and efficient methods for solving
the time-harmonic Maxwell’s equation. Highly accurate geometrical modeling and numerical accuracy atcomputational costs are a prerequisite for any simulation study of complex nano-structured photonic devices.
We present a reduced basis method (RBM) for the time-harmonic electromagnetic scattering problem based
on the hp-adaptive finite element solver JCMsuite capable of handling geometric and non-geometric parameter
dependencies allowing for online evaluations in milliseconds. We apply the RBM to compute light-scatteringoptical wavelengths off periodic arrays of fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) where geometrical properties such
as the width and height of the fin and gate can vary in a large range.
Reconstruction of photonic crystal geometries using a reduced basis method for nonlinear outputs
(2016)
Maxwell solvers based on the hp-adaptive finite element method allow for accurate geometrical modeling and high numerical accuracy. These features are indispensable for the optimization of optical properties or reconstruction of parameters through inverse processes. High computational complexity prohibits the evaluation of the solution for many parameters. We present a reduced basis method (RBM) for the time-harmonic electromagnetic scattering problem allowing to compute solutions for a parameter configuration orders of magnitude faster. The RBM allows to evaluate linear and nonlinear outputs of interest like Fourier transform or the enhancement of the electromagnetic field in milliseconds. We apply the RBM to compute light-scattering off two dimensional photonic crystal structures made of silicon and reconstruct geometrical parameters.
Optical 3D simulations in many-query and real-time contexts require new solution strategies. We study an adaptive, error controlled reduced basis method for solving parametrized time-harmonic optical scattering problems. Application fields are, among others, design and optimization problems of nano-optical devices as well as inverse problems for parameter reconstructions occuring e. g. in optical metrology. The reduced basis method presented here relies on a finite element modeling of the scattering problem with parametrization of materials, geometries and sources.
High-speed modulation, wavelength, and mode control in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
(2015)
The optical chirality density is a valuable tool in locally characterizing chiral electromagnetic near-fields. However, how this quantity could translate into the far-field is not well understood. Here, we formulate a far-field
interpretation of optical chirality by investigating its conservation law in isotropic media in analogy to Poynting’s Theorem. We define the global chirality and find that lossy materials, in particular plasmonic nanostructures, can act as chirality generators. This can enable chiral sensing applications at the single molecule level.
A chiral structure is not super-imposable with its mirror image. Most commonly found in organic molecules, chirality can also occur in other systems, such as electromagnetic fields, where circularly polarized light is the most widespread example. Chiral electromagnetic fields can be a useful tool for biosensing applications. In particular, it has been shown that chiral plasmonic nanostructures have the ability to produce strongly enhanced chiral near-fields. Recently, our group has developed chiral plasmonic nanopyramids, which have the ability to focus chiral near-fields at their tip. This could enable chiral sensing at the single-molecule level. Chiral near-fields can be characterized in terms of the “optical chirality density”. This time-even and parity-odd pseudoscalar was first derived by Lipkin and was found to follow a conservation law analogous to the energy conservation of electromagnetic fields. More recently, Tang and Cohen identified the physical meaning of the “optical chirality density” as the degree of asymmetry in the excitation rate of a chiral molecule. However, how this near-field interpretation of the optical chirality could translate into the far-field is not well understood. Here, we formulate a far-field interpretation by investigating the conservation law for optical chirality in matter, and performing time-averaging in analogy to Poynting’s Theorem. In parallel to extinction energy, we define the “global chirality” as the sum of chirality dissipation within a material and the chirality flux leaving the system. With finite-element simulations, we place a dipole source at locations of enhanced local chirality and investigate the global chirality and ellipticity of emitted light in the far-field. Interestingly, we find that lossy materials with a complex dielectric function have the ability to generate global chirality when excited by achiral light. In particular, chiral plasmonic nanostructures are found to act as effective global chirality generators. The global interpretation of optical chirality provides a useful tool for biosensing applications with chiral plasmonic nanostructures, where the detection is routinely performed in the far-field.