Unraveling Optical Polarization at Deep Microscopic Scales in Crystalline Materials

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bharadwaj, Sathwik, Jacob, Zubin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bharadwaj, Sathwik
Jacob, Zubin
author_facet Bharadwaj, Sathwik
Jacob, Zubin
contents Nanophotonics, the study of light-matter interaction at scales smaller than the wavelength of radiation, has widespread applications in plasmonic waveguiding, topological photonic crystals, super-lensing, solar absorbers, and infrared imaging. The physical phenomena governing these effects can be described using a macroscopic homogenized refractive index. However, the lattice-level description of optical polarization in a crystalline material using a quantum theory has been unresolved. Inspired by the dynamics of electron waves and their corresponding band structure, we propose a microscopic optical band theory of solids specifically applicable to optical polarization. This framework reveals propagating waves hidden deep within a crystal lattice. These hidden waves arise from crystal-optical-indices, a family of quantum functions obeying crystal symmetries, and cannot be described by the conventional concept of refractive index. We present for the first time - the hidden waves and deep microscopic optical band structure of 14 distinct materials. We choose Si, Ge, InAs, GaAs, CdTe, and others from Group IV, III-V, and II-VI due to their technological relevance but our framework can be extended to a wide range of emerging 2D and 3D materials. In contrast to the macroscopic refractive index of these materials used widely today, this framework shows that hidden waves exist throughout the crystal lattice and have unique optical polarization texture and crowding. We also present an open-source software package, Purdue-Picomax, for the research community to discover hidden waves in new materials like hBN, graphene, and Moire materials. Our work establishes a foundational crystallographic feature to discover novel deep microscopic optical waves in light-matter interaction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_15189
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unraveling Optical Polarization at Deep Microscopic Scales in Crystalline Materials
Bharadwaj, Sathwik
Jacob, Zubin
Optics
Materials Science
Nanophotonics, the study of light-matter interaction at scales smaller than the wavelength of radiation, has widespread applications in plasmonic waveguiding, topological photonic crystals, super-lensing, solar absorbers, and infrared imaging. The physical phenomena governing these effects can be described using a macroscopic homogenized refractive index. However, the lattice-level description of optical polarization in a crystalline material using a quantum theory has been unresolved. Inspired by the dynamics of electron waves and their corresponding band structure, we propose a microscopic optical band theory of solids specifically applicable to optical polarization. This framework reveals propagating waves hidden deep within a crystal lattice. These hidden waves arise from crystal-optical-indices, a family of quantum functions obeying crystal symmetries, and cannot be described by the conventional concept of refractive index. We present for the first time - the hidden waves and deep microscopic optical band structure of 14 distinct materials. We choose Si, Ge, InAs, GaAs, CdTe, and others from Group IV, III-V, and II-VI due to their technological relevance but our framework can be extended to a wide range of emerging 2D and 3D materials. In contrast to the macroscopic refractive index of these materials used widely today, this framework shows that hidden waves exist throughout the crystal lattice and have unique optical polarization texture and crowding. We also present an open-source software package, Purdue-Picomax, for the research community to discover hidden waves in new materials like hBN, graphene, and Moire materials. Our work establishes a foundational crystallographic feature to discover novel deep microscopic optical waves in light-matter interaction.
title Unraveling Optical Polarization at Deep Microscopic Scales in Crystalline Materials
topic Optics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.15189