Spontaneous emission from radiative chiral nematic liquid crystals at the photonic band-gap edge: An investigation into the role of the density of photon states near resonance

In this article, we investigate the spontaneous emission properties of radiating molecules embedded in a chiral nematic liquid crystal, under the assumption that the electronic transition frequency is close to the photonic edge mode of the structure, i.e., at resonance. We take into account the transition broadening and the decay of electromagnetic field modes supported by the so-called "mirrorless"cavity. We employ the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian to describe the electron interaction with the electromagnetic field, focusing on the mode with the diffracting polarization in the chiral nematic layer. As known in these structures, the density of photon states, calculated via the Wigner method, has distinct peaks on either side of the photonic band gap, which manifests itself as a considerable modification of the emission spectrum. We demonstrate that, near resonance, there are notable differences between the behavior of the density of states and the spontaneous emission profile of these structures. In addition, we examine in some detail the case of the logarithmic peak exhibited in the density of states in two-dimensional photonic structures and obtain analytic relations for the Lamb shift and the broadening of the atomic transition in the emission spectrum. The dynamical behavior of the atom-field system is described by a system of two first-order differential equations, solved using the Green's-function method and the Fourier transform. The emission spectra are then calculated and compared with experimental data. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Spontaneous emission from radiative chiral nematic liquid crystals at the photonic band-gap edge: an investigation into the role of the density of photon states near resonance.

In this article, we investigate the spontaneous emission properties of radiating molecules embedded in a chiral nematic liquid crystal, under the assumption that the electronic transition frequency is close to the photonic edge mode of the structure, i.e., at resonance. We take into account the transition broadening and the decay of electromagnetic field modes supported by the so-called "mirrorless"cavity. We employ the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian to describe the electron interaction with the electromagnetic field, focusing on the mode with the diffracting polarization in the chiral nematic layer. As known in these structures, the density of photon states, calculated via the Wigner method, has distinct peaks on either side of the photonic band gap, which manifests itself as a considerable modification of the emission spectrum. We demonstrate that, near resonance, there are notable differences between the behavior of the density of states and the spontaneous emission profile of these structures. In addition, we examine in some detail the case of the logarithmic peak exhibited in the density of states in two-dimensional photonic structures and obtain analytic relations for the Lamb shift and the broadening of the atomic transition in the emission spectrum. The dynamical behavior of the atom-field system is described by a system of two first-order differential equations, solved using the Green's-function method and the Fourier transform. The emission spectra are then calculated and compared with experimental data.

Electrical addressing of polymer stabilized hyper-twisted chiral nematic liquid crystals with interdigitated electrodes: Experiment and model

Electro-optic switching in short-pitch polymer stabilized chiral nematic liquid crystals was studied and the relative contributions of flexoelectric and dielectric coupling were investigated: polymer stabilization was found to effectively suppress unwanted textural transitions of the chiral nematic liquid crystal and thereby enhance the electro-optical performance (high optical contrast for visible light, a near ideal optical hysteresis, fast electro-optic response). Test cells were studied that possessed interdigitated electrodes to electrically address the liquid crystal. Based on simulations, a well-fitted phenomenological description of the electro-optic response was derived considering both flexoelectro-optic and Kerr-effect based electro-optic response. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Compact phase shifter based on highly anisotropic liquid crystals for microwave frequency

A compact microwave phase shifter was designed and fabricated using highly anisotropic liquid crystals (LCs). It comprises a thin LC layer between a ground plane and a directly coupled and inverted microstrip line. The proposed folding configuration is beneficial for size reduction. Both simulation and experimental results confirm the compact size devices with reasonably good performance.

Emerging applications of liquid crystals based on nanotechnology

Diverse functionalities of liquid crystals (LCs) offer enormous opportunities for their potential use in advanced mobile and smart displays, as well as novel non-display applications. Here, we present snapshots of the research carried out on emerging applications of LCs ranging from electronics to holography and self-powered systems. In addition, we will show our recent results focused on the development of new LC applications, such as programmable transistors, a transparent and active-type two-dimensional optical array and self-powered display systems based on LCs, and will briefly discuss their novel concepts and basic operating principles. Our research will give insights not only into comprehensively understanding technical and scientific applications of LCs, but also developing new discoveries of other LC-based devices. © 2014 by the authors.

High performance transistors based on the controlled growth of triisopropylsilylethynyl-pentacene crystals via non-isotropic solvent evaporation

Triisopropylsilylethynyl-pentacene (TIPS-PEN) has proven to be one of the most promising small molecules in the field of molecular electronics, due to its unique features in terms of stability, performance and ease of processing. Among a wide variety of well-established techniques for the deposition of TIPS-PEN, blade-metered methods have recently gained great interest towards the formation of uniform crystalline films over a large area. Following this rationale, we herein designed a versatile approach based on blade-coating, which overcomes the problem of anisotropic crystal formation by manipulating the solvent evaporation behaviour, in a way that brings about a preferential degree of crystal orientation. The applicability of this method was evaluated by fabricating field-effect transistors on glass as well as on silicon dioxide/silicon (SiO2/Si) substrates. Interestingly, in an attempt to improve the rheological and wetting behaviour of the liquid films on the SiO2/Si substrates, we introduced a polymeric interlayer of polystyrene (PS) or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) which concurrently acts as passivation and crystallization assisting layer. In this case, the synergistic effects of the highly-ordered crystalline structure and the oxide surface modification were thoroughly investigated. The overall performance of the fabricated devices revealed excellent electrical characteristics, with high saturation mobilities up to 0.72 cm2 V-1 s-1 (on glass with polymeric dielectric), on/off current ratio >104 and low threshold voltage values (<-5 V). This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.

Modification of two-photon excited fluorescence from quantum dots on SiN photonic crystals

We investigate two-photon excited fluorescence from CdSe quantum dots with a center-emitting wavelength of 655 nm on SiN photonic crystals. We find that two-photon excited fluorescence is enhanced by more than 1 order of magnitude in the vertical direction when a photonic crystal is used compared to the fluorescence spectra in the absence of photonic crystals. The spectrum of two-photon excited fluorescence from quantum dots on SiN photonic crystal is observed to shift to blue compared to that from quantum dots on SiN without photonic crystals. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Quantum efficiency of GaAs/AlGaAs thin films with two-dimensional photonic crystals

The optical properties of GaAs/AlGaAs thin films with photonic crystals were investigated by measuring their photoluminescence spectra. The spectral intensities, lifetimes, and quantum efficiencies decreased greatly compared with those in blank material without photonic crystals. The quantum efficiencies in the material were also calculated from spectral intensities and lifetimes and the quantum efficiencies calculated from those two methods agreed with each other to some extent.

Influence of electron irradiation on hydrothermally grown zinc oxide single crystals

The resistivity of hydrothermally grown ZnO single crystals increased from similar to 10(3) Omega cm to similar to 10(6) Omega cm after 1.8 MeV electron irradiation with a fluence of similar to 10(16) cm(-2), and to similar to 10(9) Omega cm as the fluence increased to similar to 10(18) cm(-2). Defects in samples were studied by thermally stimulated current (TSC) spectroscopy and positron lifetime spectroscopy (PLS). After the electron irradiation with a fluence of 10(18) cm(-2), the normalized TSC signal increased by a factor of similar to 100. A Zn vacancy was also introduced by the electron irradiation, though with a concentration lower than expected. After annealing in air at 400 degrees C, the resistivity and the deep traps concentrations recovered to the levels of the as-grown sample, and the Zn vacancy was removed.

Dynamics of spontaneous emission from SiN with two-dimensional photonic crystals

We investigated the dynamics of spontaneous emission from a photonic crystal etched into a SiN slab. After fitting the decay curves of the emission to double exponential functions, we divided the dynamic process of the spontaneous emission into a fast process and a slow process. It was observed that the presence of the photonic crystal increased the proportion of the fast decay component, and consequently, the emission rate and time-integrated emission intensity were also enhanced. These enhancements were a result of the coupling of the guide modes to the leaky modes of the photonic crystal slab waveguide. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Lifetime distribution of spontaneous emission from line antennas in two-dimensional quasi-periodic photonic crystals

We investigate the lifetime distribution functions of spontaneous emission from line antennas embedded in finite-size two-dimensional 12-fold quasi-periodic photonic crystals. Our calculations indicate that two-dimensional quasi-periodic crystals lead to the coexistence of both accelerated and inhibited decay processes. The decay behaviors of line antennas are drastically changed as the locations of the antennas are varied from the center to the edge in quasi-periodic photonic crystals and the location of transition frequency is varied.

Surface recombination in GaAs thin films with two-dimensional photonic crystals

The dynamics of spontaneous emission from GaAs slabs with photonic crystals etched into them are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It is found that the intensity of spontaneous emission decreases significantly and that photonic crystals significantly shorten the lifetime of emission. The mechanics of enhancement and the reduction of emission from photonic crystals are analyzed by considering the surface recombination of GaAs. The measured and calculated lifetimes agree at a surface recombination velocity of 1.88x10(5) cm/s.

Enhanced infrared emission from colloidal HgTe nanocrystal quantum dots on silicon-on-insulator photonic crystals

A two dimensional silicon-on-insulator based photonic crystal structure is used to enhance the emission from colloidal HgTe nanocrystal quantum dots embedded in a thin polymer film. The enhancement is resonant to the leaky eigenmodes of the photonic crystals due to coherent scattering effects. Transmittance and photoluminescence experiments are presented to map the leaky mode dispersion and the angle dependence of the emission enhancement factor, which reaches values up to 80 (650) for vertical (oblique) emission in the telecommunication wavelength range.

Inductively coupled plasma etching in fabrication of 2D InP-based photonic crystals

The authors developed an inductively coupled plasma etching process for the fabrication of hole-type photonic crystals in InP. The etching was performed at 70 degrees C using BCl3/Cl-2 chemistries. A high etch rate of 1.4 mu m/min was obtained for 200 nm diameter holes. The process also yields nearly cylindrical hole shape with a 10.8 aspect ratio and more than 85 degrees straightness of the smooth sidewall. Surface-emitting photonic crystal laser and edge emitting one were demonstrated in the experiments.