OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 15, No.

5 (2008) 255258

Optical Properties of a Periodic One-Dimensional Semiconductor-Organic Photonic Crystal in UV Region

Suihu D ANG
Department of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering of Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing 408003, Peoples Republic of China (Received April 1, 2008; Revised January 0, 1900; Accepted July 10, 2008) Optical properties of a one-dimensional semiconductor-organic photonic crystal with periodic AlN/3-octylthiophenes (P3OT) multilayer structure are exhibited and conrmed by a calculation of the transfer matrix method (TMM). An AlN/P3OT multilayer structure displays incomplete photonic band gap behavior in the UV region. The AlN/P3OT multilayers with four pairs of 35-nm-AlN and 35-nm-P3OT layers exhibit a high reectivity of 89% and less absorption of 10% at a wavelength of about 300 nm. These results demonstrate the AlN/P3OT multilayer structure could be a good candidate for absolute inhibition of reection in the ultraviolet region for a given orientation. # 2008 The Optical Society of Japan Key words: photonic band gap, 1D photonic crystals, TMM method, conjugated polymer

1.

Introduction

Articially manipulated UV light has become useful in disinfection, air and water purication, and biomedicine. To achieve the necessary manipulation of light, considerable eorts have been made in developing photonic crystals periodic dielectric materials which have so-called photonic bandgaps, which prohibit the propagation of photons having energies within the bandgap region.13) The one-, two-, and three-dimensional (1D, 2D, and 3D) photonic crystals (PCs) have been obtained in infrared, microwave, and millimeterwave regions.412) For wavelength shorter than infrared, especially in the UV region, only a few experimental and theoretical systems have recently been demonstrated to exhibit the signature of photonic bandgaps.1316) This is because most materials have high absorption coecients and unstable dielectric constants under prolonged irradiation with UV/visible light. In addition, the fabrication of a 2D or 3D photonic band gap (PBG) structure at VIS and UV is quite dicult, despite the progress in microfabrication technology. In contrast, a 1D multilayer structure is much easier to fabricate in this regime and also has some promising applications.1719) For these reasons much attention has been given to 1D photonic crystal in the UV region. Conjugated polymers have been extensively studied as promising materials for applications in optoelectronic devices due to their lower costs, easier fabrication methods and better exibility compared with inorganic materials.2024) However, the shortest ultraviolet frequency range to date has been reported for optical properties of semiconductororganic photonic crystals.25) In this paper, we report the optical properties of 1D semiconductor-organic PC with a periodic AlN/3-octylthiophenes (P3OT) multilayer structure in the UV region, which oers potential applications in various photonic and electronic devices, especially in exible or microcavity organic light-emitting diodes. 2. Calculation Method and Structure Model In a computational model, we consider a multilayer
255

Fig. 1. Schematic of the multilayer system showing the layer parameters ("i and di are the dielectric function and thickness of layer, respectively), the incident wave vector k, and the electromagnetic mode convention. E and B are the electric and magnetic elds, respectively.

system where 1D PCs structure of materials A and B have dierent dielectric function ("1 , "2 ) and geo-material layer thickness (d1 ; d2 ), respectively. A 1D photonic crystal consists of an array of AlN and P3OT layers coupled with a homogeneous medium, characterized by "0 (such as the vacuum with "0 1) at the interface. The generic system is illustrated in Fig. 1. The incident wave has a wave vector k k2 i2 k3 i3 and a frequency w cjkj="0 , where c is the speed of light in vacuum and i2 and i3 are the unit vectors in x and z directions, respectively. The wave vector together with the normal to the periodic structure denes a symmetry mirror plane that allows distinguishing two independent electromagnetic modes: transverse electric (H-polarization) and transverse magnetic (E-polarization) modes. For Hpolarization (E-polarization) mode, the electric (magnetic) eld is perpendicular to the plane. The propagation characteristics of an electromagnetic wave inside the AlN/P3OT multilayer are calculated using a Translight software

256

OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 15, No. 5 (2008)

S. DANG

package developed by the University of Glasgow.26,27) The program is based on the transfer matrix method (TMM), introduced by Pendry and MacKinnon to calculate the electromagnetism transmission through the PBG materials. In the TMM, the total volume of the system is divided into small cells and the elds in each cell are coupled to those in the neighboring cells. Then the transfer matrix can be dened by relating the incident eld on one side of the PBG structure with the outgoing elds on the other side. Using the TMM, the band structure of an innite periodic system can be calculated, but the main advantage of this method is the calculation of the transmission and reection coecients for electromagnetic waves of various frequencies incident on a nite thickness slab of the PBG material. In this case, the material is assumed to be periodic in the directions parallel to the interfaces. The calculations assume that AlN/P3OT multilayers have a nite thickness in the z-direction, but are innite in the x- and y-directions. 3. Results and Discussion

To use the transfer matrix method to calculate the optical properties of PCs, a periodic structure is usually assumed. The reection response for AlN/P3OT multilayer structure is calculated for various crystal thicknesses. The dielectric function for both AlN and P3OT are based on Benedict and Kymakiss optic data in UV (see Fig. 2).28,29) The dielectric  function can be expressed as a complex function, " "0 j"00 . Transmission for a non-absorbing structure is T 1 R, but for an absorbing structure T1 1 R1 A1 , where A1 is the absorption of PCs. The imaginary ("00 ) of the dielectric function is related to the absorption. Here the reection and absorption spectra are calculated for the complex dielectric function of the AlN/P3OT multilayer structure. The E- and H-polarization reection and absorption results for a lattice constant of 70 nm, d1 d2 35 nm (d1 =a 0:5) are shown in Figs. 3(a), 3(b), and 3(c). Figures 3(a) and 3(b) show that a PBG exists for Hpolarization and E-polarization, which ranges from 270 to 340 nm for both cases. An absolute PBG is dened as the

Fig. 3. Calculated reectivities vs wavelength for (a) H-polarization, (b) E-polarization of AlN/P3OT multilayer lms, and (c) absorption coecient vs wavelength for E-polarization and Hpolarization.

Fig. 2. Real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function of AlN and P3OT in UV region.

overlap region between H- and E-polarization band gaps. The overlap band gaps ranges from 270 to 340 nm. These gures also show clearly that the crystal thickness or the number of layers included in the calculation aect reection coecient. The absorption for H- and E-polarization (eight layers) is less than 15%, which arises from a lower value of

OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 15, No. 5 (2008)

S. DANG

257

Fig. 4. Calculated in- and out-of-plane angular response for a multilayer structure, in which the zero angle of incidence corresponds to an incidence along the z-direction. Results for Hpolarization are shown in (a) for an angular scan within the periodic xz-plane and (b) for E-polarization. Filling fraction (d1 =a) is 0.5, with thickness of layer pairs 70 nm. The structure is 8 unit cells thick.

Fig. 5. Calculated reection coecients response for dierent lattice period (ratio of the AlN layers thickness to the lattice period d1 =a 0:7) for E-polarization (a) and for dierent r =a (the lattice period a 70 nm) for E-polarization (b). The structure is 8 unit cells thick.

the imaginary part of the dielectric constant for P3OT and AlN in the overlap region. For other frequency regions there is a larger absorption feature in Fig. 3(c). The trend is related to the imaginary part of the dielectric constant, the higher this value, the higher the corresponding absorption would become. The reection coecient almost saturates at around eight layers, with the maximum reection about 89%. The lower reection is due to the material dispersion in the UV region, as well as the inuence of the model such as interface of layers. The dependence of the reectance for the AlN/P3OT multilayer structure on the incidence angle is also investigated. The reection spectra for H- and E-polarization modes are shown in Fig. 4 which shows the reectivity for a k vector (incident wave vector) lying in the xz-plane (oplane propagation, meaning that the propagation is no longer

along the z-direction). In particular, a zero incidence angle corresponds to normal incidence where the k vector is parallel to the axis. As the angle increases, the k vector tilts towards the x-axis and the angle of incidence is measured between the z-axis and k vector. The reectance spectra for H-polarization are shown in Fig. 4(a). With increasing incidence angle, both the lower and upper locality of the original band gap as well as the width and depth changes but not substantially for k lying in xz-plane. The locality of the original band gap moves toward lower wavelength region and the width and depth of the band gap decrease between 0 75 . For E-polarization, as shown in Fig. 4(b), with increasing angle of incident, the locality, width and depth of original band gap change but not substantially for k lying in the xz-plane. The locality of the original band gap moves toward lower wavelength region, similar to that shown by the H-polarization [Fig. 4(a)]. However, the width and depth of the band gap increase for increasing angle of incidence for k lying in xz-plane. This is due to increasingly compromised

258

OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 15, No. 5 (2008)

S. DANG 5) T. J. Shephered, P. J. Roberts, and R. Loudon: Phys. Rev. E 55 (1997) 6024. sien, and D. 6) J. Danglot, J. Carbonell, M. Fernandez, O. Vanbe Lippens: Appl. Phys. Lett. 73 (1998) 2712. 7) V. Yannopapas, A. Modinos, and N. Stefanou: Phys. Rev. B 60 (1999) 359. 8) S. Kee, S. S. Oh, K. J. Chang, J. E. Kim, H. Y. Park, and K. H. Lee: Phys. Rev. B 60 (1999) 10573. 9) I. El-Kady, M. M. Sigalas, R. Biswas, K. M. Ho, and C. M. Soukoulis: Phys. Rev. B 62 (2000) 15299. 10) H. Y. Lee and T. Yao: J. Appl. Phys. 93 (2003) 819. 11) S. Tomljenovic-Hanic, M. J. Steel, and C. Martijn de Sterke: Opt. Express 14 (2006) 3556. 12) K. B. Crozier, V. Lousse, O. Kilic, S. Kim, S. Fan, and O. Solgaard: Phys. Rev. B 73 (2006) 115126. 13) T. N. Oder, K. H. Kim, J. Y. Lin, and H. X. Jiang: Appl. Phys. Lett. 84 (2004) 466. 14) B. Xu, P. Han, L. Wang, J. Li, X. Liu, M. Chen, and H. Ichinose: Opt. Commun. 250 (2005) 120. 15) B. Xu, P. Han, J. Liang, X. Liu, H. Bao, T. Li, M. Chen, and H. Ichinose: Solid State Commun. 133 (2005) 353. 16) P. Han, B. Xu, J. Liang, X. Liu, and H. Bao: Physica E 25 (2004) 29. 17) S. Mishra and S. Satpathy: Phys. Rev. B 68 (2003) 045121. 18) S. Longhi and D. Janner: Opt. Lett. 29 (2004) 2653. 19) T. V. Murzina, F. Yu. Sychev, E. M. Kim, E. I. Rau, S. S. Obydena, O. A. Aktsipetrov, M. A. Bader, and G. Marowsky: J. Appl. Phys. 98 (2005) 123702. 20) V. L. Colvin, M. C. Schlamp, and A. P. Alivisatos: Nature 370 (1994) 354. 21) C. D. Sheraw, L. Zhou, J. R. Huang, D. J. Gundlach, T. N. Jackson, M. G. Kane, I. G. Hill, M. S. Hammond, J. Campi, B. K. Greening, J. Francl, and J. West: Appl. Phys. Lett. 80 (2002) 1088. 22) S. E. Shaheen, C. J. Brabec, and N. S. Sariciftci: Appl. Phys. Lett. 78 (2001) 841. az-Garc a, B. J. Schwartz, M. R. Andersson, 23) F. Hide, M. A. D Q. Pei, and A. J. Heeger: Science 273 (1996) 1833. 24) S. Dang: J. Phys. D 41 (2008) 125101. 25) B. Xu, S. Dang, P. Han, M. Chi, G. Liu, and X. Liu: Opt. Commun. 267 (2006) 362. 26) J. B. Pendry and A. MacKinnon: Phys. Rev. Lett. 69 (1992) 2772. 27) P. M. Bell, J. B. Pendry, L. M. Moreno, and A. J. Moreno: Comput. Phys. Commun. 85 (1995) 306. 28) X. Benedict, T. Wethkamp, K. Wilmers, C. Cobet, N. Esser, E. L. Shirley, W. Richter, and M. Cardona: Solid State Commun. 112 (1999) 129. 29) E. Kymakis and G. A. J. Amaratunga: Synth. Met. 142 (2004) 161.

periodicity of the structure seen by the incident wave for tilted incidence. Figure 4 also shows that the AlN/P3OT multilayer structure is a PBG with an incomplete band gap at a wavelength of about 300 nm. The reection coecients are calculated for the multilayer structure with the dierent lattice period (a) and ratio of the AlN layers thickness to the lattice period (d1 =a), and for normal incidence (k along z-direction). The results are shown in Fig. 5. The results show that the width, depth, and the position of the PBG obviously changed when using dierent a or d1 =a. As the lattice period changes from 60 to 80 nm (d1 =a 0:7), the band gap moves toward higher wavelength region, and the reection coecient has a maximum value between 65 75 nm. The peak of reection coecient appears at around 70 nm in Fig. 5(a). As the AlN layers thickness changes from 0:3a to 0:7a (a 70 nm), the band gap moves toward higher wavelength region and becomes wider then narrower, but the reection coecient increases in Fig. 5(b). This suggests that we can ne-tune the band gap by changing the lattice period and the AlN layers thickness. 4. Conclusions

In summary, optical properties of a 1D semiconductororganic photonic crystal with periodic AlN/P3OT multilayer are studied using the transfer matrix method. An AlN/P3OT multilayer with four pairs of 35-nm-AlN and 35-nm-P3OT layers shows a high theoretical reectivity of 89% at a wavelength of about 300 nm. This structure gives a lower absorption over the wavelength range of 270 340 nm. These results demonstrate that the semiconductor-organic photonic crystals can be used in optoelectronic devices such as at display, sensor and waveguide devices.
Acknowledgements This work was nancially supported by Fund Key Disciplines of Yangtze Normal University (No. 2003148) and the Nature Science Foundation of Chongqing (Grant No. kj081307). We thank Mr. Andrew L. Reynolds of the University of Glasgow for providing the Translight software. References 1) M. Inoue, K. Ohtaka, and S. Yanagawa: Phys. Rev. B 25 (1982) 677. 2) E. Yablonovitch: Phys. Lett. 58 (1987) 2059. 3) S. John: Phys. Lett. 58 (1987) 2486. 4) H. B. Lin, R. J. Tonucci, and A. J. Campillo: Appl. Phys. Lett. 68 (1996) 2927.