Ren-Hao Fan

Freely Tunable Broadband Polarization Rotator for Terahertz Waves

A freely tunable polarization rotator for broadband terahertz waves is demonstrated using a three-rotating-layer metallic grating structure, which can conveniently rotate the polarization of a linearly polarized terahertz wave to any desired direction with nearly perfect conversion efficiency. This low-cost, high-efficiency, and freely tunable device has potential applications as material analysis, wireless communication, and THz imaging.

Broadband absorption and efficiency enhancement of an ultra-thin silicon solar cell with a plasmonic fractal

We report in this work that quantum efficiency can be significantly enhanced in an ultra-thin silicon solar cell coated by a fractal-like pattern of silver nano cuboids. When sunlight shines this solar cell, multiple antireflection bands are achieved mainly due to the self-similarity in the fractal-like structure. Actually, several kinds of optical modes exist in the structure. One is cavity modes, which come from Fabry-Perot resonances at the longitudinal and transverse cavities, respectively; the other is surface plasmon (SP) modes, which propagate along the silicon-silver interface. Due to the fact that several feature sizes distribute in a fractal-like structure, both low-index and high-index SP modes are simultaneously excited. As a whole effect, broadband absorption is achieved in this solar cell. Further by considering the ideal process that the lifetime of carriers is infinite and the recombination loss is ignored, we demonstrate that external quantum efficiency of the solar cell under this ideal condition is significantly enhanced. This theoretical finding contributes to high-performance plasmonic solar cells and can be applied to designing miniaturized compact photovoltaic devices.

Transparent Metals for Ultrabroadband Electromagnetic Waves

Making metals transparent, which could lead to fascinating applications, has long been pursued. Here we demonstrate that with narrow slit arrays metallic plates become transparent for extremely broad bandwidths; the high transmission efficiency is insensitive to the metal thickness. This work provides a guideline to develop novel devices, including transparent conducting panels, broadband metamaterials, and antireflective solar cells.

Position-sensitive spectral splitting with a plasmonic nanowire on silicon chip

On-chip nanophotonics serves as the foundation for the new generation of information technology, but it is challenged by the diffraction limit of light. With the capabilities of confining light into (deep) subwavelength volumes, plasmonics makes it possible to dramatically miniaturize optical devices so as to integrate them into silicon chips. Here we demonstrate that by cascading nano-corrugation gratings with different periodicities on silver nanowires atop silicon, different colors can be spatially separated and chronologically released at different grating junctions. The released light frequency depends on the grating arrangement and corrugation periodicities. Hence the nanowire acts as a spectral splitter for sorting/demultiplexing photons at different nano-scale positions with a ten-femtosecond-level interval. Such nanowires can be constructed further into compact 2D networks or circuits. We believe that this study provides a new and promising approach for realizing spatiotemporal-sensitive spectral splitting and optical signal processing on nanoscales, and for general integration of nanophotonics with microelectronics.

Broadband optical scattering in coupled silicon nanocylinders

In this work, we demonstrate the broadband scattering of light waves incident on coupled silicon nanocylinders. First, it is shown that both electric and magnetic resonances are observed in a single silicon nanocylinder. By using two silicon nanocylinders, we next construct a silicon nanodimer. Thereafter, the original electric and magnetic resonances of the single nanocylinder shift and form hybrid resonant modes in the dimer; meanwhile, a new magnetic resonant mode emerges at a longer wavelength. Consequently, the silicon nanodimer exhibits a broadband scattering response that originates from optically magnetic interactions between dimeric silicon nanocylinders. Furthermore, the scattering bandwidth further increases upon using a silicon nanotrimer. This broadband optical response in silicon nanocylinders is demonstrated via their scattering spectra, and the magnetic interaction is verified by examining the spatial distributions of electromagnetic fields and the retrieved permittivity and permeability o...

Multiple-band transmission of acoustic wave through metallic gratings

In this work, we demonstrate that acoustic waves can achieve extremely flat transmission through a metallic grating under oblique incidence within multiple frequency bands separated by Wood’s anomalies. At the low-frequency band, the transmission of acoustic wave is independent of the frequency and presents a flat curve with the transmission efficiency reaching about 100%; while at high-frequency bands, the transmission decreases to be lower flat curves due to the diffraction effect. The transmission efficiency is insensitive to the thickness of the grating. This phenomenon is verified by experiments, numerical simulations, and an analytical model. The broadband high transmission is attributed to the acoustic impedance matching between the air and the grating. This research may open up a field for various potential applications of acoustic gratings, including broadband sonic imaging and screening, grating interferometry, and antireflection cloaking.

Oblique metal gratings transparent for broadband terahertz waves

In this work, we experimentally and theoretically demonstrate that oblique metal gratings with optimal tilt angles can become transparent for broadband terahertz waves under normal incidence. Direct imaging is applied to intuitively prove this broadband transparency phenomenon of structured metals. The transparency is insensitive to the grating thickness due to the non-resonance mechanism, and the optimal tilt angle is determined only by the strip width and the grating period. The oblique metal gratings with broadband transparence may have many potential applications, such as transparent conducting panels, white-beam polarizers, and stealth objects.

Tuning the dispersion relation of a plasmonic waveguide via graphene contact

In this work, we have investigated experimentally and theoretically the dispersion relation of a plasmonic slab waveguide, where the thin gold film with nano-aperature arrays is sandwiched by graphene and a silica layer on a silicon chip. It is shown that the plasmonic slab waveguides are compatible with silicon technology. We have found that when the light waves irradiate the nanostructured waveguides with or without graphene, surface plasmon polaritons are always excited at the metal-dielectric interface due to the interaction between the surface charge oscillation and the electromagnetic field of the light. But in the slab waveguide with graphene, the resonant dips definitely shift in the reflection spectra, which indicates that the contact of graphene can tune the dispersion relation of the waveguide in the visible regime. Experimental measurements on optical reflections are in good agreement with calculated plasmonic band structures. Further calculations show that the dispersion relation of plasmonic slab waveguides can be tuned by electron doping and the nonlinear effect of graphene. The investigations provide a way to actively control the dispersion relation of plasmonic waveguides on silicon chips and benefit the development graphene-related active optical devices.

Asymmetric transmission of terahertz waves through a graphene-loaded metal grating

In this work, we theoretically investigate the propagation of terahertz (THz) waves through a graphene-loaded metal grating under external magnetic field. It is found that resonant modes in the system can be converted between transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic polarizations due to Hall conductivity of graphene. As a consequence, asymmetric transmission of THz waves through this graphene-loaded metal grating is achieved. Furthermore, by adjusting either the external magnetic field or the Fermi level of graphene, such asymmetric wave propagation can be significantly tuned. The investigations may provide a unique way to achieve the graphene-loaded optodevices for THz waves.

Broadband light trapping and absorption of thin-film silicon sandwiched by trapezoidal surface and silver grating

In this work, we demonstrate the high optical absorption efficiency of a thin-film silicon solar cell. In thin-film solar cells, the efficiency is strongly dependent on light trapping by structures capable of exciting different resonance modes. Here, we consider a trapezoidal surface design that not only reduces reflection with a gradient index of refraction but also excites multiple cavity modes. The absorption can be enhanced further by combining a plasmonic structure, i.e., a silver grating. For comparison, we have separately simulated the silver grating structure, trapezoidal surface structure, and the combined structure. The combined structure retains all absorption effects shown by the individual components, achieving broadband absorption with a high efficiency. The investigations provide a unique design for high-performance solar cells of thin-film silicon.