DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5394.1679. A Dielectric Omnidirectional Reflector

10.1126/science.282.5394.1679

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

A design criterion that permits truly omnidirectional reflectivity for all polarizations of incident light over a wide selectable range of frequencies was used in fabricating an all-dielectric omnidirectional reflector consisting of multilayer films. The reflector was simply constructed as a stack of nine alternating micrometer-thick layers of polystyrene and tellurium and demonstrates omnidirectional reflection over the wavelength range from 10 to 15 micrometers. Because the omnidirectionality criterion is general, it can be used to design omnidirectional reflectors in many frequency ranges of interest. Potential uses depend on the geometry of the system. For example, coating of an enclosure will result in an optical cavity. A hollow tube will produce a low-loss, broadband waveguide, whereas a planar film could be used as an efficient radiative heat barrier or collector in thermoelectric devices.

Bibliography

Fink, Y., Winn, J. N., Fan, S., Chen, C., Michel, J., Joannopoulos, J. D., & Thomas, E. L. (1998). A Dielectric Omnidirectional Reflector. Science, 282(5394), 1679â1682.

Authors 7

Yoel Fink (first)
Joshua N. Winn (additional)
Shanhui Fan (additional)
Chiping Chen (additional)
Jurgen Michel (additional)
John D. Joannopoulos (additional)
Edwin L. Thomas (additional)

References 13 Referenced 1,144

10.1103/PhysRevLett.58.2059
S. John ibid. p. 2486.
J. D. Joannopoulos R. Meade J. N. Winn Photonic Crystals: Molding the Flow of Light (Princeton Univ. Press Princeton NJ 1995).
Winn J. N., et al., Opt. Lett. 23, 1573 (1998). (10.1364/OL.23.001573) / Opt. Lett. by Winn J. N. (1998)
Abeles F., Ann. Phys. 5, 706 (1950). (10.1051/anphys/195012050706) / Ann. Phys. by Abeles F. (1950)
M. Born and E. Wolf Principles of Optics (Pergamon ed. 6 1980) p. 67.
Yeh P., et al., J. Opt. Soc. Am. 67, 423 (1977). (10.1364/JOSA.67.000423) / J. Opt. Soc. Am. by Yeh P. (1977)
A necessary condition for omnidirectional reflectivity is that light from outside the film cannot be allowed to access the Brewster angle θ B = tan −1 (n 1 /n 2 ) of the multilayer structure because at this angle the TM mode will be transmitted through. This condition is met when the Brewster line lies outside of the light line or in terms of the refractive indices of the layers sin −1 (n 0 /n 2 ) < θ B . A sufficient condition is the existence of a particular frequency at which no propagating mode within the crystal exists between k y = 0 and k y = n 0 ω/c. Figure 2A is an example of a structure that does not have an omnidirectional reflectivity range even though its Brewster crossing is inaccessible to light coming from the homogeneous medium (the Brewster crossing lies outside the light cone). This is due to the large group velocity of modes in the lower band edge of the TM mode that allow every frequency to couple to a propagating state in the crystal. This should be contrasted with Fig. 2B which exhibits an omnidirectional reflectivity range (highlighted in dark gray); the high indices of refraction actually allow for the opening of an additional omnidirectional reflectivity range in the higher harmonic as well.
C. J. Pouchert The Aldrich Library of FT-IR Spectra vol. II (Aldrich Chemical Milwaukee WI 1985) p. 1204B.
A 0.8 ± 0.09-μm-thick layer of tellurium (99.99+%; Strem Chemicals) was vacuum evaporated at 10 −6 torr and 7A (Ladd Industries 30000) onto a NaCl 25-mm salt substrate (polished NaCl window; Wilmad Glass). The layer thickness and deposition rate were monitored in situ with a crystal thickness monitor (Sycon STM100). A 10% solution of polystyrene (GoodYear PS standard 110 000 g/mol) in toluene was spin cast at 1000 rpm onto the tellurium-coated substrate and allowed to dry for a few hours; the polymer layer thickness is 1.65 ± 0.09 μm.
The nine-layer film sequence was Te/PS/Te/PS/Te/PS/Te/PS/Te.
The calculations were done with the transfer matrix method described in (5) with the film parameters.
We thank J. F. Hester and A. Urbas for their valuable assistance and M. G. Bawendi and G. B. Kenney for stimulating discussions and inspiration. Supported in part by Defense Advanced Research Agency through U.S. Army Research Office under grant DAAG55-97-1-0366 and by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under grants F49620-97-1-0325 and F49620-97-1-0385.

Dates

Type	When
Created	23 years, 1 month ago (July 27, 2002, 5:35 a.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 13, 2024, 12:22 a.m.)
Indexed	1 day, 16 hours ago (Aug. 31, 2025, 6:14 a.m.)
Issued	26 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 27, 1998)
Published	26 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 27, 1998)
Published Print	26 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 27, 1998)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Fink_1998, title={A Dielectric Omnidirectional Reflector}, volume={282}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.282.5394.1679}, DOI={10.1126/science.282.5394.1679}, number={5394}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Fink, Yoel and Winn, Joshua N. and Fan, Shanhui and Chen, Chiping and Michel, Jurgen and Joannopoulos, John D. and Thomas, Edwin L.}, year={1998}, month=nov, pages={1679–1682} }

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