Nano-optics of Perforated Metallic Films

Thesis advisor: Krzysztof KempaThesis advisor: Zhifeng RenIn the past few decades, accompanied by the fascinating development of micro- and nano-fabrication techniques, the successful integration of subwavelength optics and multilayer structures has led to a number of remarkable discoveries. In this work, I present both experimental and theoretical investigations of the optics of thin metallic films with micro-/nano-scale perforations in the UV-VIS-IR ranges. Different fabrication techniques are employed, including nanosphere lithography, grain boundary lithography, crack templates, and sintered nanoparticles. The optical properties these films are studied, revealing important relation between optical response and the film geometry. This includes the evolution of plasmonic resonances in a series of periodic arrays of holes in a metallic film, with hole sizes increasing gradually until an array of islands is achieved. This evolution is an analog of the percolation problem, and critical phenomena are observed at the percolation threshold. Multilayer broad-band electromagnetic absorbers are also designed and fabricated based on the study of these perforated films. Parallel with these observations, an analytical coherence model is proposed to bridge the subwavelength and superwavelength limits. Such a model also provides an alternative way to handle thin random structures, avoiding large quantity of numerical computation. These studies can find applications in the design of sensors, ultrathin solar cells and transparent electrodes, as well as in applications where random structures are widely used.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Physics