Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Broadband angular selectivity of light at the nanoscale: Progress, applications, and outlook

Abstract

Humankind has long endeavored to control the propagation direction of light. Since time immemorial, shades, lenses, and mirrors have been used to control the flow of light. In modern society, with the rapid development of nanotechnology, the control of light is moving toward devices at micrometer and even nanometer scales. At such scales, traditional devices based on geometrical optics reach their fundamental diffraction limits and cease to work. Nano-photonics, on the other hand, has attracted wide attention from researchers, especially in the last decade, due to its ability to manipulate light at the nanoscale. This review focuses on the nano-photonics systems that aim to select light based on its propagation direction. In the first half of this review, we survey the literature and the current state of the art focused on enabling optical broadband angular selectivity. The mechanisms we review can be classified into three main categories: (i) microscale geometrical optics, (ii) multilayer birefringent materials, and (iii) Brewster modes in plasmonic systems, photonic crystals, and metamaterials. In the second half, we present two categories of potential applications for broadband angularly selective systems. The first category aims at enhancing the efficiency of solar energy harvesting, through photovoltaic process or solar thermalmore » process. The second category aims at enhancing light extracting efficiency and detection sensitivity. Lastly, we discuss the most prominent challenges in broadband angular selectivity and some prospects on how to solve these challenges.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1469206
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1236904
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001299
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Reviews
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 3; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1931-9401
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS

Citation Formats

Shen, Yichen, Hsu, Chia Wei, Yeng, Yi Xiang, Joannopoulos, John D., and Soljačić, Marin. Broadband angular selectivity of light at the nanoscale: Progress, applications, and outlook. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4941257.
Copy to clipboard
Shen, Yichen, Hsu, Chia Wei, Yeng, Yi Xiang, Joannopoulos, John D., & Soljačić, Marin. Broadband angular selectivity of light at the nanoscale: Progress, applications, and outlook. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941257
Copy to clipboard
Shen, Yichen, Hsu, Chia Wei, Yeng, Yi Xiang, Joannopoulos, John D., and Soljačić, Marin. Thu . "Broadband angular selectivity of light at the nanoscale: Progress, applications, and outlook". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941257. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1469206.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1469206,
title = {Broadband angular selectivity of light at the nanoscale: Progress, applications, and outlook},
author = {Shen, Yichen and Hsu, Chia Wei and Yeng, Yi Xiang and Joannopoulos, John D. and Soljačić, Marin},
abstractNote = {Humankind has long endeavored to control the propagation direction of light. Since time immemorial, shades, lenses, and mirrors have been used to control the flow of light. In modern society, with the rapid development of nanotechnology, the control of light is moving toward devices at micrometer and even nanometer scales. At such scales, traditional devices based on geometrical optics reach their fundamental diffraction limits and cease to work. Nano-photonics, on the other hand, has attracted wide attention from researchers, especially in the last decade, due to its ability to manipulate light at the nanoscale. This review focuses on the nano-photonics systems that aim to select light based on its propagation direction. In the first half of this review, we survey the literature and the current state of the art focused on enabling optical broadband angular selectivity. The mechanisms we review can be classified into three main categories: (i) microscale geometrical optics, (ii) multilayer birefringent materials, and (iii) Brewster modes in plasmonic systems, photonic crystals, and metamaterials. In the second half, we present two categories of potential applications for broadband angularly selective systems. The first category aims at enhancing the efficiency of solar energy harvesting, through photovoltaic process or solar thermal process. The second category aims at enhancing light extracting efficiency and detection sensitivity. Lastly, we discuss the most prominent challenges in broadband angular selectivity and some prospects on how to solve these challenges.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4941257},
journal = {Applied Physics Reviews},
number = 1,
volume = 3,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Thu Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941257
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 53 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Experimental demonstration of enhanced photon recycling in angle-restricted GaAs solar cells
journal, January 2014

  • Kosten, Emily D.; Kayes, Brendan M.; Atwater, Harry A.
  • Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 7, Issue 6, p. 1907-1912
  • DOI: 10.1039/c3ee43584a

Extraordinary Transmission Through Arrays of Electrically Small Holes From a Circuit Theory Perspective
journal, December 2008

  • Medina, F.; Mesa, F.; Marques, R.
  • IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 56, Issue 12, p. 3108-3120
  • DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2008.2007343

Introduction
book, August 2013

Optical metasurfaces with robust angular response on flexible substrates
journal, October 2011

  • Di Falco, Andrea; Zhao, Yang; Alú, Andrea
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 16
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3655332

Spectrally and angularly selective photothermal and photovoltaic converters under one-sun illumination
journal, June 2005

Uniaxial epsilon-near-zero metamaterial for angular filtering and polarization control
journal, September 2010

  • Alekseyev, L. V.; Narimanov, E. E.; Tumkur, T.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3469925

Strong Internal and External Luminescence as Solar Cells Approach the Shockley–Queisser Limit
journal, July 2012

  • Miller, Owen D.; Yablonovitch, Eli; Kurtz, Sarah R.
  • IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 2, Issue 3, p. 303-311
  • DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2012.2198434

TCO and light trapping in silicon thin film solar cells
journal, December 2004

Enabling high-temperature nanophotonics for energy applications
journal, January 2012

  • Yeng, Y. X.; Ghebrebrhan, M.; Bermel, P.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 7, p. 2280-2285
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1120149109

Absolute limiting efficiencies for photovoltaic energy conversion
journal, June 1994

  • Araújo, Gerardo L.; Martí, Antonio
  • Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 33, Issue 2, p. 213-240
  • DOI: 10.1016/0927-0248(94)90209-7

Angular photonic band gap
journal, March 2011

  • Hamam, Rafif E.; Celanovic, Ivan; Soljačić, Marin
  • Physical Review A, Vol. 83, Issue 3, Article No. 035806
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.83.035806

Photonic Crystals
book, January 2011

Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight
journal, November 2014

  • Raman, Aaswath P.; Anoma, Marc Abou; Zhu, Linxiao
  • Nature, Vol. 515, Issue 7528, p. 540-544
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature13883

Dielectric metasurfaces for complete control of phase and polarization with subwavelength spatial resolution and high transmission
journal, August 2015

  • Arbabi, Amir; Horie, Yu; Bagheri, Mahmood
  • Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 10, Issue 11, p. 937-943
  • DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2015.186

Tailoring photonic metamaterial resonances for thermal radiation
journal, January 2011

  • Bermel, Peter; Ghebrebrhan, Michael; Harradon, Michael
  • Nanoscale Research Letters, Vol. 6, Article No. 549
  • DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-6-549

Solar cell as a heat engine: energy-entropy analysis of photovoltaic conversion
journal, December 2008

Plasmonic nanoresonators for high-resolution colour filtering and spectral imaging
journal, August 2010

  • Xu, Ting; Wu, Yi-Kuei; Luo, Xiangang
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 1, Issue 5, p. 1-5
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1058

Superlattice photonic crystal as broadband solar absorber for high temperature operation
journal, January 2014

  • Rinnerbauer, Veronika; Shen, Yichen; Joannopoulos, John D.
  • Optics Express, Vol. 22, Issue S7, p. A1895-A1906
  • DOI: 10.1364/OE.22.0A1895

Plasmonic Brewster Angle: Broadband Extraordinary Transmission through Optical Gratings
journal, March 2011

  • Alù, Andrea; D’Aguanno, Giuseppe; Mattiucci, Nadia
  • Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 12, Article No. 123902
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.123902

Microphotonic parabolic light directors fabricated by two-photon lithography
journal, October 2011

  • Atwater, J. H.; Spinelli, P.; Kosten, E.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 15, Article No. 151113
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3648115

The dielectric constant of a composite material—A problem in classical physics
journal, July 1978

Human Rights Are Universal
journal, January 1993

Reflective plasmonic color filters based on lithographically patterned silver nanorod arrays
journal, January 2013

  • Si, Guangyuan; Zhao, Yanhui; Lv, Jiangtao
  • Nanoscale, Vol. 5, Issue 14, p. 6243-6248
  • DOI: 10.1039/c3nr01419c

Optical nanotransmission lines: synthesis of planar left-handed metamaterials in the infrared and visible regimes
journal, January 2006

  • Alù, Andrea; Engheta, Nader
  • Journal of the Optical Society of America B, Vol. 23, Issue 3, p. 571-583
  • DOI: 10.1364/JOSAB.23.000571

Improved Glan-Foucault Prism
journal, December 1948

Maximal power output by solar cells with angular confinement
journal, January 2014

  • Höhn, Oliver; Kraus, Tobias; Bauhuis, Gerard
  • Optics Express, Vol. 22, Issue S3, p. A715-A722
  • DOI: 10.1364/OE.22.00A715

Limiting acceptance angle to maximize efficiency in solar cells
conference, September 2011

  • Kosten, Emily D.; Atwater, Harry A.
  • SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.894226

The limiting efficiency of silicon solar cells under concentrated sunlight
journal, February 1986

  • Campbell, P.; Green, M.A.
  • IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 33, Issue 2, p. 234-239
  • DOI: 10.1109/T-ED.1986.22472

Global optimization of omnidirectional wavelength selective emitters/absorbers based on dielectric-filled anti-reflection coated two-dimensional metallic photonic crystals
journal, January 2014

  • Yeng, Yi Xiang; Chou, Jeffrey B.; Rinnerbauer, Veronika
  • Optics Express, Vol. 22, Issue 18, p. 21711-21718
  • DOI: 10.1364/OE.22.021711

Thermoelectric Cooling and Power Generation
journal, July 1999

Metallic Photonic Crystal Absorber-Emitter for Efficient Spectral Control in High-Temperature Solar Thermophotovoltaics
journal, April 2014

  • Rinnerbauer, Veronika; Lenert, Andrej; Bierman, David M.
  • Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 12, Article No. 1400334
  • DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201400334

A nanophotonic solar thermophotovoltaic device
journal, January 2014

  • Lenert, Andrej; Bierman, David M.; Nam, Youngsuk
  • Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 9, Issue 2, p. 126-130
  • DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2013.286

BICEP2. II. Experiment And Three-Year Data Set
journal, August 2014

  • Ade, P. A. R.; Aikin, R. W.; Amiri, M.
  • The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 792, Issue 1, Article No. 62
  • DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/792/1/62

A Dielectric Omnidirectional Reflector
journal, November 1998

Total external reflection from metamaterials with ultralow refractive index
journal, January 2003

  • Schwartz, Brian T.; Piestun, Rafael
  • Journal of the Optical Society of America B, Vol. 20, Issue 12, p. 2448-2453
  • DOI: 10.1364/JOSAB.20.002448

Extraordinary optical transmission through sub-wavelength hole arrays
journal, February 1998

  • Ebbesen, T. W.; Lezec, H. J.; Ghaemi, H. F.
  • Nature, Vol. 391, Issue 6668, p. 667-669
  • DOI: 10.1038/35570

Thin-film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of merit
journal, October 2001

  • Venkatasubramanian, Rama; Siivola, Edward; Colpitts, Thomas
  • Nature, Vol. 413, Issue 6856, p. 597-602
  • DOI: 10.1038/35098012

Theoretical efficiencies of angular-selective non-concentrating solar thermal systems
journal, January 2004

  • Blanco, Manuel J.; Martı́n, José G.; Alarcón-Padilla, Diego C.
  • Solar Energy, Vol. 76, Issue 6, p. 683-691
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2004.01.005

Giant Birefringent Optics in Multilayer Polymer Mirrors
journal, March 2000

Obliquely evaporated Cr films with large angular selectivity
journal, March 1995

  • Mbise, G. W.; Niklasson, G. A.; Granqvist, C. G.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 77, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.358690

Broadband Brewster transmission through 2D metallic gratings
journal, November 2012

  • Le, Khai Q.; Argyropoulos, Christos; Mattiucci, Nadia
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 112, Issue 9, Article No. 094317
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4764334

Solar Cells and their Applications, Second Edition
book, August 2010

Optical Broadband Angular Selectivity
journal, March 2014

Transparent displays enabled by resonant nanoparticle scattering
journal, January 2014

  • Hsu, Chia Wei; Zhen, Bo; Qiu, Wenjun
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Article No. 3152
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4152

Angular‐selective optical transmittance through obliquely evaporated Cr films: Experiments and theory
journal, November 1996

  • Mbise, G. W.; Niklasson, G. A.; Granqvist, C. G.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 80, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.363476

Spontaneous Radiative Recombination in Semiconductors
journal, January 1957

Corrigenda
journal, January 1985

Structural Colors from Fano Resonances
journal, January 2015

  • Shen, Yichen; Rinnerbauer, Veronika; Wang, Imbert
  • ACS Photonics, Vol. 2, Issue 1, p. 27-32
  • DOI: 10.1021/ph500400w

Limiting efficiency of silicon solar cells
journal, May 1984

  • Tiedje, T.; Yablonovitch, E.; Cody, G.D.
  • IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 31, Issue 5, p. 711-716
  • DOI: 10.1109/T-ED.1984.21594

High transmission and low color cross-talk plasmonic color filters using triangular-lattice hole arrays in aluminum films
journal, June 2010

  • Chen, Qin; Cumming, David R. S.
  • Optics Express, Vol. 18, Issue 13, p. 14056-14062
  • DOI: 10.1364/OE.18.014056

Metamaterial broadband angular selectivity
journal, September 2014

Introduction
journal, April 2008

Three-dimensionally periodic dielectric layered structure with omnidirectional photonic band gap
journal, November 2000

  • Johnson, Steven G.; Joannopoulos, J. D.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 77, Issue 22, p. 3490-3492
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1328369

Angular selective window coatings: theory and experiments
journal, August 1997

  • Mbise, G. W.; Bellac, D. Le; Niklasson, G. A.
  • Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 30, Issue 15
  • DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/30/15/001

Design and global optimization of high-efficiency thermophotovoltaic systems
journal, January 2010

  • Bermel, Peter; Ghebrebrhan, Michael; Chan, Walker
  • Optics Express, Vol. 18, Issue S3, p. A314-A334
  • DOI: 10.1364/OE.18.00A314

Optical cavity for improved performance of solar receivers in solar-thermal systems
journal, October 2014

Staff Assignments and Workflow Distribution at the End of the 20th Century: Where We Were, Where We Are, and What We'll Need to Be
journal, October 2000

  • Ouderkirk, Jane Padham
  • Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, Vol. 30, Issue 2-3
  • DOI: 10.1300/j104v30n02_12

Matching and funneling light at the plasmonic Brewster angle
journal, January 2012

  • Argyropoulos, Christos; D’Aguanno, Giuseppe; Mattiucci, Nadia
  • Physical Review B, Vol. 85, Issue 2, Article No. 024304
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.85.024304

Optimization of angularly selective photonic filters for concentrator photovoltaic
conference, June 2012

Angular confinement and concentration in photovoltaic converters
journal, August 2010

  • Peters, Marius; Goldschmidt, Jan Christoph; Bläsi, Benedikt
  • Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 94, Issue 8, p. 1393-1398
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2010.04.009

External Reflection from Omnidirectional Dielectric Mirror Fibers
journal, April 2002

Highly efficient GaAs solar cells by limiting light emission angle
journal, January 2013

  • Kosten, Emily D.; Atwater, Jackson H.; Parsons, James
  • Light: Science & Applications, Vol. 2, Issue 1, p. e45-e45
  • DOI: 10.1038/lsa.2013.1

Experimental demonstration of plasmonic Brewster angle extraordinary transmission through extreme subwavelength slit arrays in the microwave
journal, May 2012

  • Aközbek, N.; Mattiucci, N.; de Ceglia, D.
  • Physical Review B, Vol. 85, Issue 20, Article No. 205430
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.85.205430

Limiting Light Escape Angle in Silicon Photovoltaics: Ideal and Realistic Cells
journal, January 2015

  • Kosten, Emily D.; Newman, Bonna K.; Lloyd, John V.
  • IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 1, p. 61-69
  • DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2360566

Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p‐n Junction Solar Cells
journal, March 1961

  • Shockley, William; Queisser, Hans J.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 32, Issue 3, p. 510-519
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1736034

Statistical ray optics
journal, July 1982

  • Yablonovitch, Eli
  • Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol. 72, Issue 7, p. 899-907
  • DOI: 10.1364/JOSA.72.000899

Enlargement of omnidirectional total reflection frequency range in one-dimensional photonic crystals by using photonic heterostructures
journal, June 2002

  • Wang, Xin; Hu, Xinhua; Li, Yizhou
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 80, Issue 23, p. 4291-4293
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1484547

Inhibited Spontaneous Emission in Solid-State Physics and Electronics
journal, May 1987

Photonic crystal-based resonant antenna with a very high directivity
journal, January 2000

  • Temelkuran, B.; Bayindir, Mehmet; Ozbay, E.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 87, Issue 1, p. 603-605
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.371905

Photon recycling and Shockley’s diode equation
journal, October 1997

  • Martı́, A.; Balenzategui, J. L.; Reyna, R. F.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 8, p. 4067-4075
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.365717

Einstein's Proposal of the Photon Concept—a Translation of the Annalen der Physik Paper of 1905
journal, May 1965

  • Arons, A. B.; Peppard, M. B.
  • American Journal of Physics, Vol. 33, Issue 5, p. 367-374
  • DOI: 10.1119/1.1971542

Ultra-high-efficiency metamaterial polarizer
journal, January 2014

Enlargement of nontransmission frequency range in photonic crystals by using multiple heterostructures
journal, March 2000

  • Zhang, Chun; Qiao, Feng; Wan, Jun
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 87, Issue 6, p. 3174-3176
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.372318

Colloquium : Light scattering by particle and hole arrays
journal, October 2007

Direction-selective optical transmission of 3D fcc photonic crystals in the microwave regime
journal, May 2010

  • Üpping, J.; Miclea, P. T.; Wehrspohn, R. B.
  • Photonics and Nanostructures - Fundamentals and Applications, Vol. 8, Issue 2, p. 102-106
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.photonics.2009.11.002

Useful angular selectivity in oblique columnar aluminum
journal, March 1991

  • Ditchburn, R. J.; Smith, G. B.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 69, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.348474

Neues Meldegesetz und Rechtsprechung stärken Bürgerrechte
journal, November 2006

    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Self‐Assembled Ag–TiN Hybrid Plasmonic Metamaterial: Tailorable Tilted Nanopillar and Optical Properties
    journal, December 2018

    • Wang, Xuejing; Jian, Jie; Zhou, Zhiguang
    • Advanced Optical Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 3
    • DOI: 10.1002/adom.201801180

    Passive directional sub-ambient daytime radiative cooling
    journal, November 2018

    Design of an Electrically Tunable Micro-Lens Based on Graded Photonic Crystal
    journal, July 2018

    All-dielectric polarization-independent optical angular filter
    journal, November 2017

    Enhancing the Purity of Reflective Structural Colors with Ultrathin Bilayer Media as Effective Ideal Absorbers
    journal, September 2019

    • Yang, Zhengmei; Ji, Chengang; Liu, Dong
    • Advanced Optical Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 21
    • DOI: 10.1002/adom.201900739

    Waveform Selective Surfaces
    journal, January 2019

    • Wakatsuchi, Hiroki; Long, Jiang; Sievenpiper, Daniel F.
    • Advanced Functional Materials
    • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201806386

    Manipulating and trapping light with photonic crystals from fundamental studies to practical applications
    journal, January 2016

    • Kuramochi, Eiichi
    • Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 4, Issue 47
    • DOI: 10.1039/c6tc03282f

    Direct imaging of isofrequency contours in photonic structures
    journal, November 2016

    Absorptive angular-selective filters consisting of dielectric multilayers combined with thin absorbing layers
    journal, January 2019

    • Takeda, Yasuhiko; Maruya, Taichi; Tanaka, Hideyuki
    • Applied Optics, Vol. 58, Issue 33
    • DOI: 10.1364/ao.58.009094
      Sort by:
      [ × clear filter / sort ]

      Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: