
Proceedings Paper
Quantum theory for the nanoscale propagation of light through stacked thin film layersFormat | Member Price | Non-Member Price |
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Paper Abstract
Stacked multi-layer films have a range of well-known applications as optical elements. The various types of theory
commonly used to describe optical propagation through such structures rarely take account of the quantum nature of light,
though phenomena such as Anderson localization can be proven to occur under suitable conditions. In recent and ongoing
work based on quantum electrodynamics, it has been shown possible to rigorously reformulate, in photonic terms, the
fundamental mechanisms that are involved in reflection and optical transmission through stacked nanolayers. Accounting
for sum-over-pathway features in the quantum mechanical description, this theory treats the sequential interactions of
photons with material boundaries in terms of individual scattering events. The study entertains an arbitrary number of
reflections in systems comprising two or three internally reflective surfaces. Analytical results are secured, without
recourse to FTDT (finite-difference time-domain) software or any other finite-element approximations. Quantum
interference effects can be readily identified. The new results, which cast the optical characteristics of such structures in
terms of simple, constituent-determined properties, are illustrated by model calculations.
Paper Details
Date Published: 21 April 2016
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 9884, Nanophotonics VI, 988434 (21 April 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2227694
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9884:
Nanophotonics VI
David L. Andrews; Jean-Michel Nunzi; Andreas Ostendorf, Editor(s)
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 9884, Nanophotonics VI, 988434 (21 April 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2227694
Show Author Affiliations
Kayn A. Forbes, Univ. of East Anglia (United Kingdom)
Mathew D. Williams, Univ. of East Anglia (United Kingdom)
Mathew D. Williams, Univ. of East Anglia (United Kingdom)
David L. Andrews, Univ. of East Anglia (United Kingdom)
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9884:
Nanophotonics VI
David L. Andrews; Jean-Michel Nunzi; Andreas Ostendorf, Editor(s)
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