Physicists Designed a Nanostructure to Enhance Light Collection

20 december 2024 year

Science

Article by Karazin University Researcher Published in Prestigious Journal Laser & Photonics Reviews. An article by Oleg Yermakov, a researcher from the Department of Computer Physics at the Education and Research Institute of Computer Physics and Energy, has been published in the prestigious journal Laser & Photonics Reviews, ranked among the top 5% of journals worldwide in the fields of optics and condensed matter physics.

The study, conducted in collaboration with German colleagues from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology and Chinese colleagues from the Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study and the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, experimentally demonstrated a record-efficient method for light collection into optical fibers. This was achieved using dielectric asymmetric nanostructures applied to the fiber end faces via 3D nanoprinting. The designs of these trapezoidal cross-section nanostructures were optimized using a genetic algorithm. The nanostructure consists of four sectors, each representing distinct diffraction gratings that effectively collect light from different incident angle ranges.

"I call this structure the 'pizza grating' due to its visual resemblance to the famous Italian dish. Surprisingly and counterintuitively, the interaction effects between the various 'slices' of the gratings can enhance light coupling into the optical fiber. The 'recipe' for each slice was carefully developed by theorists and then 'prepared' by experimentalists and technologists. We are very pleased with the final result, as it proves the potential of nanostructures to enhance the functionality of the optical fiber technologies that surround us," commented Oleg Yermakov.

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