Title: Transverse-electric Brewster effect enabled by nonmagnetic two-dimensional materials

Abstract

It was discovered in the 19th century, the Brewster effect is known to occur for transverse-magnetic waves in regular optical dielectrics; however, it is believed to arise for transverse-electric (TE) waves only in systems with magnetic responses, i.e., nonunity effective relative permeability. This paper introduces a scheme to realize the TE Brewster effect in a homogeneous dielectric interface without magnetic responses, by adding ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene. In particular, the effect remains even for waves approaching normal incidence, spanning from terahertz to visible frequencies. In contrast to the conventional Brewster effect, the graphene-assisted TE Brewster effect is asymmetric, and can be achieved only when the incidence is from the higher-refractive-index side. Moreover, graphene layers can tailor a total-internal-reflection dielectric interface into zero reflection, accompanied by perfect absorption. This control over TE waves enabled by ultrathin 2D materials may lead to a variety of applications, such as atomically thin absorbers, polarizers, and antireflection coating.

Authors:

Lin, Xiao ^[1]; Shen, Yichen ^[2]; Kaminer, Ido ^[2]; Chen, Hongsheng ^[3]; Soljačić, Marin ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
3. Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China)

Publication Date:

Thu Aug 18 00:00:00 EDT 2016

Research Org.:

Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1388439

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1298337

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577; DESC0001299

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Physical Review A

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 94; Journal Issue: 2; Related Information: S3TEC partners with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lead); Boston College; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9926

Publisher:

American Physical Society (APS)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; solar (photovoltaic); solar (thermal); solid state lighting; phonons; thermal conductivity; thermoelectric; defects; mechanical behavior; charge transport; spin dynamics; materials and chemistry by design; optics; synthesis (novel materials); synthesis (self-assembly); synthesis (scalable processing)