Ludovic Escoubas

Simple layer-by-layer photonic crystal for the control of thermal emission

We present a theoretical and experimental study of a simple layer-by-layer photonic crystal structure designed for the control of the thermal emission in the infrared wavelength domain. We show that a relatively simple structure made of alternated ZnSe homogenous layers and gold microstructured grids can act as a thermal source itself giving us the unique opportunity to tailor its emission spectra. Comparisons between computed and measured transmission and emissivity spectra illustrate the relevance of our approach.

Nanostructured ZnO coatings grown by pulsed laser deposition for optical gas sensing of butane

We report the detection of 100ppm of butane in superatmospheric N2 or air with an m-lines setup. The sensing elements are ZnO-nanostructured coatings prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The deposition technique was optimized to obtain highly transparent films of 1cm2 in area and several hundreds nanometer thick. ZnO structures preserve gas sensitivity even when deposited at room temperature. Refractive index variations down to 0.005 were detected and typical variations of about 20% were induced during ZnO film-butane contact.

Enhanced gas sensing of Au nanocluster-doped or -coated zinc oxide thin films

We demonstrated that doping or covering with Au nanoclusters boosts gas sensing effectiveness of optical metal oxide sensors. The sensing response of pulsed laser deposited ZnO films as sensing element was tested by m-line technique for low concentration (1000ppm) of butane in environmental N2. The optical interrogation was performed for three types of coatings: undoped ZnO, undoped ZnO structures partially covered with Au nanoclusters, or obtained from Au (0.5wt%) doped ZnO targets. Nanocluster coating tripled the sensitivity, while doping resulted in an increase of up to 45% as compared with simple structures.

∂n/∂T measurements performed with guided waves and their application to the temperature sensitivity of wavelength-division multiplexing filters

Measurements of ∂n/∂T of thin films by the m-lines technique are presented. The importance of the substrate material is shown. An example of the wavelength shift of an optical thin-film filter with temperature is studied both theoretically and experimentally. The theoretical wavelength shift of a dense wavelength-division multiplexing filter is discussed.

Optical modeling of the ultimate efficiency of pentacene : N, N' -ditridecylperylene -3, 4, 9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide-blend solar cells

Molecular blends of pentacene: N, N′-ditridecylperylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PTCDI-C13H27) permit to cover the visible part of the solar spectrum with an absorption onset at 730nm. Although charge mobilities of pentacene and PTCDI are rather large, the efficiency of pentacene:PTCDI-C13H27 blended devices is still lower than that of poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester devices. Comparisons between experimental results and optical modeling indicate that more than 30% of the photocurrent is lost in the blend while the short circuit current should reach 13mAcm−2 in the absence of recombination processes.

Substrate effects on absorption of coated surfaces

Photothermal deflection is used for mapping the absorption of bare and coated surfaces. The same area is mapped before and after coating and also after annealing. The great importance of the substrate with respect to the total losses of the coated component is emphasized. First the influence of surface contamination of the bare substrate on the total absorption of the coated substrate is studied for BK7 and fused-silica substrates. Then the mean value of the coated-substrate absorptance is shown to be strongly dependenton the type of substrate. Experimental results show that this effect is associated with a localization of the absorption at the near surface of the substrate and at the interfaces of the film.

Artificial anisotropy and polarizing filters

The calculated spectral transmittance of a multilayer laser mirror is used to determine the effective index of the single layer equivalent to the multilayer stack. We measure the artificial anisotropy of photoresist thin films whose structure is a one-dimensional, subwavelength grating obtained from interference fringes. The limitation of the theory of the first-order effective index homogenization is discussed. We designed normal-incidence, polarizing coating and a polarization rotator by embedding anisotropic films in simple multilayer structures.

Enhanced diffraction efficiency of gratings in multilayers

Computations with the rigorous differential method show that single gratings made by ion implantation have a diffraction efficiency in the +1 transmitted order under TE illumination of only 0.78%. The insertion of such gratings into multilayer dielectric Fabry-Perot cavities leads to an enhancement of the free-space diffraction efficiency. Different designs for the multilayer are considered. An 18.8% efficiency is reached with 11-layer mirrors. This result is obtained by optimization of the thickness of the spacer of the Fabry-Perot cavity that contains the grating and centering of the wavelength of the mirrors. The dependence of optical properties of the structure on the various optogeometrical parameters of the structure is discussed.

Solarization of glass substrates during thin-film deposition

We demonstrate that solarization occurs in glass substrates during thin-film deposition and that it induces high absorption near the surface of the substrate. Solarization has been observed especially in ion-plating deposition. We show that the solarization of the substrate is caused by electromagnetic radiation emitted from the material to be evaporated. The radiation is due to the energy losses of the heating beam of electrons (bremsstrahlung radiation). Multicomponent glasses such as BK7 are much more sensitive to solarization than fused-silica substrates. The photoinduced high absorption can be partially reversed by thermal annealing.

Ion implanted integrated optics (I3O) technology for planar lightwave circuits fabrication

The Ion Implanted Integrated Optics (I3O) technology, using titanium ion implantation in bulk silica to fabricate passive compact planar lightwave circuits (PLCs), is presented in this paper. Its advantages are described and compared with other waveguide fabrication technologies. It is demonstrated that the guided electromagnetic field can be tailored by adjusting the titanium ion dose either to fit the guided mode of standard single-mode fibers or to allow a sharp radius of curvature of bent waveguides.