Breaking the Moss rule

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Raza, Søren, Thygesen, Kristian Sommer, Naik, Gururaj
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866918343742586880
author Raza, Søren
Thygesen, Kristian Sommer
Naik, Gururaj
author_facet Raza, Søren
Thygesen, Kristian Sommer
Naik, Gururaj
contents Photonic devices depend critically on the dielectric materials from which they are made, with higher refractive indices and lower absorption losses enabling new functionalities and higher performance. However, these two material properties are intrinsically linked through the empirical Moss rule, which states that the refractive index of a dielectric decreases as its band gap energy increases. Materials that surpass this rule, termed super-Mossian dielectrics, combine large refractive indices with wide optical transparency and are therefore ideal candidates for advanced photonic applications. This Review surveys the expanding landscape of high-index dielectric and semiconductor materials, with a particular focus on those that surpass the Moss rule. We discuss how electronic band structures with a large joint density of states near the band edge give rise to super-Mossian behavior and how first-principles computational screening can accelerate their discovery. Finally, we establish how the refractive index sets the performance limits of nanoresonators, waveguides, and metasurfaces, highlighting super-Mossian dielectrics as a promising route toward the next performance leap in photonic technologies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_16247
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Breaking the Moss rule
Raza, Søren
Thygesen, Kristian Sommer
Naik, Gururaj
Optics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
Photonic devices depend critically on the dielectric materials from which they are made, with higher refractive indices and lower absorption losses enabling new functionalities and higher performance. However, these two material properties are intrinsically linked through the empirical Moss rule, which states that the refractive index of a dielectric decreases as its band gap energy increases. Materials that surpass this rule, termed super-Mossian dielectrics, combine large refractive indices with wide optical transparency and are therefore ideal candidates for advanced photonic applications. This Review surveys the expanding landscape of high-index dielectric and semiconductor materials, with a particular focus on those that surpass the Moss rule. We discuss how electronic band structures with a large joint density of states near the band edge give rise to super-Mossian behavior and how first-principles computational screening can accelerate their discovery. Finally, we establish how the refractive index sets the performance limits of nanoresonators, waveguides, and metasurfaces, highlighting super-Mossian dielectrics as a promising route toward the next performance leap in photonic technologies.
title Breaking the Moss rule
topic Optics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.16247