arXiv subjects

Wei E. I. Sha

Publications and source records attributed to Wei E. I. Sha.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Quasi-Continuous Metasurfaces for Orbital Angular Momentum Generation

A quasi-continuous composite perfect electric conductor-perfect magnetic conductor metasurface and a systematic metasurface design process are proposed for the orbital angular momentum (OAM) generation. The metasurfaces reflect the incident left circularly polarized (LCP)/right circularly polarized (RCP) plane wave to RCP/LCP vortex beams carrying OAM at normal or oblique direction. Unlike conventional metasurfaces that are composed of discrete scatterers, the scatterers on the proposed metasurface form a quasi-continuous pattern. The patterning of the metasurface is calculated through grating vectors, and no optimization of single scatterer is required. Furthermore, the distortions from local-response discontinuity of discrete scatterers are avoided. This letter provides great convenience to high-quality OAM generation.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2019

Nonlinearity in the Dark: Broadband Terahertz Generation with Extremely High Efficiency

Plasmonic metamaterials and metasurfaces offer new opportunities in developing high performance terahertz emitters and detectors beyond the limitations of conventional nonlinear materials. However, simple meta-atoms for second-order nonlinear applications encounter fundamental trade-offs in the necessary symmetry breaking and local-field enhancement due to radiation damping that is inherent to the operating resonant mode and cannot be controlled separately. Here we present a novel concept that eliminates this restriction obstructing the improvement of terahertz generation efficiency in nonlinear metasurfaces based on metallic nanoresonators. This is achieved by combining a resonant dark-state metasurface, which locally drives nonlinear nanoresonators in the near field, with a specific spatial symmetry that enables destructive interference of the radiating linear moments of the nanoresonators, and perfect absorption via simultaneous electric and magnetic critical coupling of the pump radiation to the dark mode. Our proposal allows eliminating linear radiation damping, while maintaining constructive interference and effective radiation of the nonlinear components. We numerically demonstrate a giant second-order nonlinear susceptibility around Hundred-Billionth m/V, a one order improvement compared with the previously reported split-ring-resonator metasurface, and correspondingly, a 2 orders of magnitude enhanced terahertz energy extraction should be expected with our configuration under the same conditions. Our study offers a paradigm of high efficiency tunable nonlinear metadevices and paves the way to revolutionary terahertz technologies and optoelectronic nanocircuitry.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Investigating Thermal Cooling Mechanisms of Human Body Under Exposure to Electromagnetic Radiation

Thermal cooling mechanisms of human exposed to electromagnetic (EM) radiation are studied in detail. The electromagnetic and thermal co-simulation method is utilized to calculate the electromagnetic and temperature distributions. Moreover, Pennes' bioheat equation is solved to understand different thermal cooling mechanisms including blood flow, convective cooling and radiative cooling separately or jointly. Numerical results demonstrate the characteristics and functions for each cooling mechanism. Different from the traditional view that the cooling effect of blood is usually reflected by its influence on sweat secretion and evaporation, our study indicates that the blood flow itself is an important factor of thermal cooling especially for high-intensity EM radiation. This work contributes to fundamental understanding of thermal cooling mechanisms of human.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2018

Dissipative Quantum Electromagnetics

The dissipative quantum electromagnetics is introduced in a comprehensive manner as a field-matter-bath coupling problem. First, the matter is described by a cluster of Lorentz oscillators. Then the Maxwellian free field is coupled to the Lorentz oscillators to describe a frequency dispersive medium. The classical Hamiltonian is derived for such a coupled system, using Lorenz gauge and decoupled scalar and vector potential formulations. The classical equations of motion are derivable from the Hamiltonian using Hamilton equations. Then the Hamiltonian is quantized with all the pertinent variables with the introduction of commutators between the variables and their conjugate pairs. The quantum equations of motion can be derived using the quantum Hamilton equations. It can be shown that such a quantization scheme preserves the quantum commutators introduced. Then a noise bath consisting of simple harmonic oscillators is introduced and coupled to the matter consisting of Lorentz oscillators to induce quantum loss. Langevin source emerges naturally in such a procedure, and it can be shown that the results are consistent with the fluctuation dissipation theorem, and the quantization procedure of Welsch's group. The advantage of the present procedure is that no diagonalization of the Hamiltonian is necessary to arrive at the quantum equations of motion. Finally, we apply the quantization scheme to model spontaneous emission of a two-level polarized atom placed above a dielectric cylinder that supports a bound state in the continuum.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Graphene based functional devices: A short review

Graphene is an ideal 2D material system bridging electronic and photonic devices. It also breaks the fundamental speed and size limits by electronics and photonics, respectively. Graphene offers multiple functions of signal transmission, emission, modulation, and detection in a broad band, high speed, compact size, and low loss. Here, we have a brief view of graphene based functional devices at microwave, terahertz, and optical frequencies. Their fundamental physics and computational models were discussed as well.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Efficient Volumetric Method of Moments for Modeling Plasmonic Thin-Film Solar Cells with Periodic Structures

Metallic nanoparticles (NPs) support localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), which enable to concentrate sunlight at the active layer of solar cells. However, full-wave modeling of the plasmonic solar cells faces great challenges in terms of huge computational workload and bad matrix condition. It is tremendously difficult to accurately and efficiently simulate near-field multiple scattering effects from plasmonic NPs embedded into solar cells. In this work, a preconditioned volume integral equation (VIE) is proposed to model plasmonic organic solar cells (OSCs). The diagonal block preconditioner is applied to different material domains of the device structure. As a result, better convergence and higher computing efficiency are achieved. Moreover, the calculation is further accelerated by two-dimensional periodic Green's functions. Using the proposed method, the dependences of optical absorption on the wavelengths and incident angles are investigated. Angular responses of the plasmonic OSCs show the super-Lambertian absorption on the plasmon resonance but near-Lambertian absorption off the plasmon resonance. The volumetric method of moments and explored physical understanding are of great help to investigate the optical responses of OSCs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Generation of Orbital Angular Momentum by a Point Defect in Photonic Crystals

As an attractive degree of freedom in electromagnetic (EM) waves, the orbital angular momentum (OAM) enables infinite communication channels for both classical and quantum communications. The exploration of OAM generation inspires various designs involving spiral phase plates, antenna arrays, metasurfaces, and computer-generated holograms. In this work, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate an approach to producing OAM carrying EM waves by a point defect in three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals (PCs). Simultaneous excitation of two vibrational-defect states with an elaborately engineered phase retardation generates a rotational state carrying OAM. Through converting guided waves in a line defect to localized waves in a point defect and then to radiated vortex waves in free space, the lowest four OAM-mode emitters, i.e., OAM indices of 1, -1, 2, and -2, are successfully realized. This work offers a physical mechanism to generate OAM by PCs, especially when the OAM generation is to be integrated with other designs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Investigation of broadband terahertz generation from metasurface

The nonlinear metamaterials have been shown to provide nonlinear properties with high nonlinear conversion efficiency and in a myriad of light manipulation. Here we study terahertz generation from nonlinear metasurface consisting of single layer nanoscale split-ring resonator array. The terahertz generation due to optical rectification by the second-order nonlinearity of the split-ring resonator is investigated by a time-domain implementation of the hydrodynamic model for electron dynamics in metal. The results show that the nonlinear metasurface enables us to generate broadband terahertz radiation and free from quasi-phase-matching conditions. The proposed scheme provides a new concept of broadband THz source and designing nonlinear plasmonic metamaterials.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Symplectic Pseudospectral Time-Domain Scheme for Solving Time-Dependent Schrodinger Equation

A symplectic pseudospectral time-domain (SPSTD) scheme is developed to solve Schrodinger equation. Instead of spatial finite differences in conventional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, the fast Fourier transform is used to calculate the spatial derivatives. In time domain, the scheme adopts high-order symplectic integrators to simulate time evolution of Schrodinger equation. A detailed numerical study on the eigenvalue problems of 1D quantum well and 3D harmonic oscillator is carried out. The simulation results strongly confirm the advantages of the SPSTD scheme over the traditional PSTD method and FDTD approach. Furthermore, by comparing to the traditional PSTD method and the non-symplectic Runge-Kutta (RK) method, the explicit SPSTD scheme which is an infinite order of accuracy in space domain and energy-conserving in time domain, is well suited for a long-term simulation.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2018

The Effects of Interfacial Recombination and Injection Barrier on the Electrical Characteristics of Perovskite Solar Cells

Charge carrier recombination in the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has a deep influence on the electrical performance, such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor and ultimately power conversion efficiency. The impacts of injection barrier, recombination channels, doping properties of carrier transport layers and light intensity on the performance of PSCs are theoretically investigated by drift-diffusion model in this work. The results indicate that due to the injection barrier at the interfaces of perovskite and carrier transport layer, the accumulated carriers modify the electric field distribution throughout the PSCs. Thus, a zero electric field is generated at a specific applied voltage, with greatly increases the interfacial recombination, resulting in a local kink of current density-voltage (J-V) curve. This work provides an effective strategy to improve the efficiency of PSCs by pertinently reducing both the injection barrier and interfacial recombination.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Electrically Tunable Polarizer Based on Graphene-loaded Plasmonic Cross Antenna

The unique gate-voltage dependent optical properties of graphene make it a promising electrically-tunable plasmonic material. In this work, we proposed in-situ control of the polarization of nanoantennas by combining plasmonic structures with an electrostatically tunable graphene monolayer. The tunable polarizer is designed based on an asymmetric cross nanoantenna comprising two orthogonal metallic dipoles sharing the same feed gap. Graphene monolayer is deposited on a Si/SiO2 substrate, and inserted beneath the nanoantenna. Our modelling demonstrates that as the chemical potential is incremented up to 1 eV by electrostatic doping, resonant wavelength for the longer graphene-loaded dipole is blue shifted for 500 nm (~ 10% of the resonance) in the mid-infrared range, whereas the shorter dipole experiences much smaller influences due to the unique wavelength-dependent optical properties of graphene. In this way, the relative field amplitude and phase between the two dipole nanoantennas are electrically adjusted, and the polarization state of the reflected wave can be electrically tuned from the circular into near-linear states with the axial ratio changing over 8 dB. Our study thus confirms the strong light-graphene interaction with metallic nanostructures, and illuminates promises for high-speed electrically controllable optoelectronic devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Orbital Angular Momentum Generation and Detection by Geometric-Phase Based Metasurfaces

We present a comprehensive review on the geometric-phase based metasurfaces for orbital angular momentum(OAM) generation and detection. These metasurfaces manipulate the electromagnetic (EM) wave by introducing abrupt phase change, which is strongly dependent on the polarization state of incident EM wave and can be interpreted by geometric phase. Hence, the conventional bulk devices that based on the accumulated phase change along the optical path can be avoided.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Quantifying Efficiency Loss of Perovskite Solar Cells by a Modified Detailed Balance Model

A modified detailed balance model is built to understand and quantify efficiency loss of perovskite solar cells. The modified model captures the light-absorption dependent short-circuit current, contact and transport-layer modified carrier transport, as well as recombination and photon-recycling influenced open-circuit voltage. Our theoretical and experimental results show that for experimentally optimized perovskite solar cells with the power conversion efficiency of 19%, optical loss of 25%, non-radiative recombination loss of 35%, and ohmic loss of 35% are the three dominant loss factors for approaching the 31% efficiency limit of perovskite solar cells. We also find that the optical loss will climb up to 40% for a thin-active-layer design. Moreover, a misconfigured transport layer will introduce above 15% of energy loss. Finally, the perovskite-interface induced surface recombination, ohmic loss, and current leakage should be further reduced to upgrade device efficiency and eliminate hysteresis effect. The work contributes to fundamental understanding of device physics of perovskite solar cells. The developed model offers a systematic design and analysis tool to photovoltaic science and technology.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2017

Detection of Orbital Angular Momentum with Metasurface at Microwave Band

An orbital angular momentum (OAM) detection approach at microwave band is proposed. A transmittance function is exploited to model a transmissive metasurface. Then the metasurface is designed to convert an OAM wave to multiple waves, only one of which is gaussian. The radiation direction of the gaussian wave is distinguishable according to the order of incident OAM. Consequently, by locating the gaussian wave, the incident OAM can be conveniently determined. We use a simple field source to simulate the incident OAM wave in fullwave simulation. It largely simplifies the simulation process when an incident wave carrying OAM is needed. Both numerical and full-wave simulation results are provided to validate our design and they show a good agreement with each other. Then, the metasurface is optimized for high directivity. Our work can provide an efficient and effective way for OAM detection in radio communications.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2017

Hole Mobility Model for Si Double-Gate Junctionless Transistors

In this work, a physics based model is developed to calculate the hole mobility of ultra-thin-body double-gate junctionless transistors. Six-band $k\cdot p$ Schrödinger equation and Poisson equation are solved self-consistently. The obtained wave-functions and energies are stored in look-up tables. Hole mobility can be derived using the Kubo-Greenwood formula accounting for impurity, acoustic and optical phonon, and surface roughness scattering. Initial benchmark results are shown.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2017

Charge Separation and Dissipation in Molecular Wires under a Light Radiation

Photo-induced charge separation in nanowires or molecular wires had been studied in previous experiments and simulations. Most researches deal with the carrier diffusions with the classical phenomenological models, or the static energy levels by quantum mechanics calculations. Here we give a dynamic quantum investigation on the charge separation and dissipation in molecule wires. The method is based on the time-dependent non-equilibrium Green's function theory. Polyacetylene chain and poly-phenylene are used as model systems with a tight-binding Hamiltonian and the wide band limit approximation in this study. A light pulse with the energy larger than the band gap is radiated on the system. The evolution and dissipation of the non-equilibrium carriers in the open nano systems are studied. With an external electric potentials or impurity atoms, the charge separation is observed. Our calculations show that the separation behaviors of the electron/hole wave packets are related to the Coulomb interaction, light intensity and the effective masses of electron/hole in the molecular wire.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Maxwell-Hydrodynamic Model for Simulating Nonlinear Terahertz Generation from Plasmonic Metasurfaces

The interaction between the electromagnetic field and plasmonic nanostructures leads to both the strong linear response and inherent nonlinear behavior. In this paper, a time-domain hydrodynamic model for describing the motion of electrons in plasmonic nanostructures is presented, in which both surface and bulk contributions of nonlinearity are considered. A coupled Maxwell-hydrodynamic system capturing full-wave physics and free electron dynamics is numerically solved with the parallel finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The validation of the proposed method is presented to simulate linear and nonlinear responses from a plasmonic metasurface. The linear response is compared with the Drude dispersion model and the nonlinear terahertz emission from a difference-frequency generation process is validated with theoretical analyses. The proposed scheme is fundamentally important to design nonlinear plasmonic nanodevices, especially for efficient and broadband THz emitters.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Mixing of spin and orbital angular momenta via second-harmonic generation in plasmonic and dielectric chiral nanostructures

We present a theoretical study of the characteristics of the nonlinear spin-orbital angular momentum coupling induced by second-harmonic generation in plasmonic and dielectric nanostructures made of centrosymmetric materials. In particular, the connection between the phase singularities and polarization helicities in the longitudinal components of the fundamental and second-harmonic optical fields and the scatterer symmetry properties are discussed. By in-depth comparison between the interaction of structured optical beams with plasmonic and dielectric nanostructures, we have found that all-dielectric and plasmonic nanostructures that exhibit magnetic and electric resonances have comparable second-harmonic conversion efficiency. In addition, mechanisms for second-harmonic enhancement for single and chiral clusters of scatterers are unveiled and the relationships between the content of optical angular momentum of the incident optical beams and the enhancement of nonlinear light scattering is discussed. In particular, we formulate a general angular momenta conservation law for the nonlinear spin-orbital angular momentum interaction, which includes the quasi-angular-momentum of chiral structures with different-order rotational symmetry. As a key conclusion of our study relevant to nanophotonics, we argue that all-dielectric nanostructures provide a more suitable platform to investigate experimentally the nonlinear interaction between spin and orbital angular momenta, as compared to plasmonic ones, chiefly due to their narrower resonance peaks, lower intrinsic losses, and higher sustainable optical power.

physics.optics↗