title: Antireflection effects at nanostructured material interfaces and the suppression of thin-film interference.
abstract: Thin-film interference is a well-known effect, and it is commonly observed in the colored appearance of many natural phenomena. Caused by the interference of light reflected from the interfaces of thin material layers, such interference effects can lead to wavelength and angle-selective behavior in thin-film devices. In this work, we describe the use of interfacial nanostructures to eliminate interference effects in thin films. Using the same principle inspired by moth-eye structures, this approach creates an effective medium where the index is gradually varying between the neighboring materials. We present the fabrication process for such nanostructures at a polymer-silicon interface, and experimentally demonstrate its effectiveness in suppressing thin-film interference. The principle demonstrated in this work can lead to enhanced efficiency and reduce wavelength/angle sensitivity in multilayer optoelectronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Qiaoyin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xu A
authors.initials: XA
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Abhijeet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bagal
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Chih-Hao
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D012825:Silicon