Artificial opals are a popular platform for investigating fundamental properties of Photonic Crystals (PhC). In this work, we provide a theoretical analysis of polarization‐resolved transmission experiments through thin opal films. Despite the full cubic symmetry of the PhC, this system provides a very efficient mechanism for manipulating the polarization state of light. Based on band structure calculations and Bloch mode analysis, we find that this effect closely resembles classical birefringence. Due to the cubic symmetry, however, a description using tensorial quantities is not possible. This indicates fundamental limitations of effective material models for Photonic Crystals and demonstrates the importance of accurately modelling the microscopic geometry of such systems.
Polarization Change in Face–Centered Cubic Opal Films
THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL NANOPHOTONICS: TaCoNa‐Photonics 2011 ; 2011 ; Bad Honnef, (Germany)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 1398 , 1 ; 112-114
2011-10-03
3 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Polarization change in face-centered cubic opal films
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