Angle Insensitive Color Filters in Transmission Covering the Visible Region

Spectral origami: an angle-variable, wavelength-selective concept with a highly efficient filter-based sensing

This study demonstrates the concept of an angle-variable compact spectral module. As a key feature, the filter-based module enables highly efficient wavelength-selective light detection by applying the reflective beam path according to the origami example. It was accomplished through inclined mirrors, which allow for different incident angles on the wavelength separating interference filters used in a robust assembly with no moving parts. To experimentally verify the concept, a wavelength range between 550 and 700 nm was detected by 11 spectral channels. These initial results showed the potential to develop easily scalable and application-tailored sensors, which can overcome conventional filter-based sensor approaches that use upright or fixed-angle illumination.

Structural color filters with compensated angle-dependent shifts

Structural color filters use nano-sized elements to selectively transmit incident light, offering a scalable, economical, and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional pigment- and dye-based color filters. However, their structural nature makes their optical response prone to spectral shifts whenever the angle of incidence varies. We address this issue by introducing a conformal VO2 layer onto bare aluminum structural color filters. The insulator-metal transition of VO2 compensated the spectral shift of the filter's transmission at a 15° tilt with 80% efficiency. Unlike solutions that require adjustment of the filter's geometry, this method is versatile and suitable also for existing structural filters. Our findings also establish tunable materials in general as a possible solution for angle-dependent spectral shifts.

Green Reflector with Predicted Chromatic Coordinates

The color reflector with multiple-layer thin film scheme has attracted much attention because of the potential for massive production by wafer-scale deposition and the possibility to integrate with photonics (semiconductor) devices. Here, an angle-insensitive green reflector with a simple multilayer dielectric thin film structure was reported, with predicted chromatic coordinates based on CIE 1931 standard. The SiN/SiO₂ multilayer thin film stack, including a special silicon-rich nitride material with ultrahigh refractive index, was grown alternatively by an inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICPCVD) system at a low stage temperature of 80 °C. The green reflector showed a maximum reflectivity of 73% around 561 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 87 nm in the visible wavelength range, which contributed significantly to its color appearance. The measurement by an angle-resolved spectrometer under the illumination of p/s-polarized light wave with a variable angle of incidence indicated that the reflectance spectrum blue-shifted slightly with the increasing of incident angle such that the green color could be kept.

All-Dielectric Color Filter with Ultra-Narrowed Linewidth

In this paper, a transmissive color filter with an ultra-narrow full width at half of the maximum is proposed. Exploiting a material with a high index of refraction and an extremely low extinction coefficient in the visible range allows the quality factor of the filter to be improved. Three groups of GaP/SiO₂ pairs are used to form a Distributed Brag reflector in a symmetrical Fabry-Pérot cavity. A band-pass filter which is composed of ZnS/SiO₂ pairs is also introduced to further promote the purity of the transmissive spectrum. The investigation manifests that a series of tuned spectrum with an ultra-narrow full width at half of the maximum in the full visible range can be obtained by adjusting the thickness of the SiO₂ interlayer. The full width at half of the maximum of the transmissive spectrum can reach 2.35 nm. Simultaneously, the transmissive efficiency in the full visible range can keep as high as 0.75. Our research provides a feasible and cost-effective way for realizing filters with ultra-narrowed linewidth.

Increasing the Yield of Lactuca sativa, L. in Glass Greenhouses through Illumination Spectral Filtering and Development of an Optical Thin Film Filter

With the increase in world population, the continued advances in modern greenhouse agriculture and plant growth practices are expected to help overcome the global problem of future food shortages. The next generation greenhouse design practices will need to address a range of issues, ranging from energy and land use efficiency to providing plant-optimized growth techniques. In this paper, we focus on investigating the optimum irradiation spectra matched to the lettuce species (Lactuca sativa, L.), commonly grown in greenhouse environments, in order to develop low-emissivity glass panes that maximize the biomass productivity of glass greenhouses. This low-emissivity glass passes the solar spectral components needed for crop growth, while rejecting other unwanted radiations. This could potentially lead to significant energy savings and other beneficial effects related to greenhouse climate control, in a range of climates. The experimental results show that substantial biomass productivity improvements in lettuce (up to approximately 14.7%) can be attained by using spectrally optimized illumination, instead of white light illumination. This optimized wavelength is then demonstrated as being used to develop an advanced metal-dielectric thin-film filter that produces the optimized illumination spectrum when exposed to sunlight.

Absorptive angular-selective filters consisting of dielectric multilayers combined with thin absorbing layers

We propose a concept of angular-selective filters (ASFs) that transmit the incident light in the transmitting angular ranges and mostly absorb in the blocking ranges. The absorptive ASF consists of a transparent dielectric multilayer combined with a thin absorbing layer, utilizing the change in the fringe pattern of the light intensity in the filter dependent on the incident angle. We clarified the design guide to select the suitable multilayer structure and absorbing material. Concrete structures of three types were designed using Cr for the absorbing material on the basis of ${\text{SiO}_2}/{\text{TiO}_2}$SiO₂/TiO₂ bandpass, shortpass, and longpass filters, exhibiting the absorptive ASF functions with the transmitting/blocking ranges of 0-10°/10-30°, 0-30°/30-60°, and 10-60°/0-10°, respectively. The present multilayered structures provide a great advantage for practical use: no need for two- or three-dimensional patterning using lithographic techniques.

Optical Device Based on a Nanopillar Array by the Pattern Transfer of an Anodic Aluminum Oxide Membrane

A simple and convenient nanofabrication method is proposed to achieve nanopillar arrays by the pattern transfer of an anodic aluminum oxide membrane, profiting from the rapid and efficient preparation process and regular hexagonal lattice patterns of the anodic aluminum oxide template. The taper angle of the nanopillar is affected by the distribution of the vapor particles during the deposition process, which is highly dependent on the material and deposition power. Based on this method, a novel scheme employing aluminum nanopillar arrays is demonstrated to realize the color tuning feature by simply varying the thickness of the top dielectric layer within a large range. The nanopillar arrays are completely covered by the thick dielectric layer atop due to the great conformality of the atomic layer deposition method that is used for the dielectric deposition. In addition, the color devices present good angular insensitivity up to 45°, resulting from the excited localized surface plasmon resonance within the metallic patches. The simple fabrication method is of great advantage to produce periodic nanostructures over large areas, which are widely used in designs and verifications of optical metasurfaces for various applications, including optical communication, imaging, sensing, and so forth.

Design of planar and wideangle resonant color absorbers for applications in the visible spectrum

We propose a design approach for color absorbers based on a tri-layer metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) planar geometry, which maintains the same color absorbed, over a range of incident angles from 0° to 80° for light with TM polarization. The dielectrics are chosen to satisfy the ideal conditions of resonance. We calculate the ideal thickness of each dielectric layer by using the planar resonance theory. The numerical results show a total absorption above 85% for all colors of the absorber. We analyzed the influence of the of the metallic top layer thickness and we demonstrated the fabrication error tolerance of the proposed absorber. Finally, we present and discuss the physical mechanisms for the coupling of the electromagnetic field and the absorbed optical power in the structure.

Transmitted plasmonic colors with different overlays utilizing the Fano-resonance

This study develops a large-area pixelated filter that can achieve colors covering the entire visible range with a fixed period under normal incidence. Vivid colors as blue, green, and yellow (peak efficiency of ~60%) are experimentally achieved based on a Fano-resonance by altering the overlay's refractive index, which is highly sensitive to the surrounding material. Furthermore, the feasibility of using this device in large-area color printing and index sensors is discussed in detail, wherein a large-area (3 cm × 3 cm) logo and a figure of merit of 254 are achieved. Therefore, this developed structure can be regarded as an alternative to traditional periodic-dependent structure colors, which can also be performed as index sensors with high sensitivity.

Lithography-Free Planar Band-Pass Reflective Color Filter Using A Series Connection of Cavities

In this article, a lithography-free multilayer based color filter is realized using a proper series connection of two cavities that shows relatively high efficiency, high color purity, and a wide view angle. The proposed structure is a metal-insulator-metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIMIS) design. To optimize the device performance, at the first step, transfer matrix method (TMM) modeling is utilized to find the right choices of materials for each layer. Simulations are carried out later on to optimize the geometries of the layers to obtain our desired colors. Finally, the optimized devices are fabricated and experimentally characterized to evaluate our modelling findings. The characterization results of the fabricated samples prove the successful formation of efficient and wide view angle color filters. Unlike previously reported FP based designs that act as a band-stop filter in reflection mode (absorbing a narrow frequency range and reflecting the rest of the spectrum), this design generates a specific color by reflecting a narrow spectral range and absorbing the rest of the spectrum. The findings of this work can be extended to other multilayer structures where an efficient connection of cavities in a tandem scheme can propose functionalities that cannot be realized with conventional FP resonators.

Impact of Cubic Symmetry on Optical Activity of Dielectric 8-srs Networks

Photonic crystals are engineered structures able to control the propagation and properties of light. Due to this ability, they can be fashioned into optical components for advanced light manipulation and sensing. For these applications, a particularly interesting case study is the gyroid srs-network, a three-dimensional periodic network with both cubic symmetry and chirality. In this work we present the fabrication and characterization of three-dimensional cubically symmetric 8-srs photonic crystals derived from combination of eight individual gyroid srs-networks. We numerically and experimentally investigate optical properties of these photonic crystals and study in particular, the impact of cubic symmetry on transmission and optical activity (OA). Gyroid photonic crystals fabricated in this work can lead to the development of smaller, cheaper, and more efficient optical components with functionalities that go beyond the concept of lenses.

Wide-angle filters based on nanoresonators for the visible spectrum

We present a design for a highly efficient and omnidirectional color-selective filter for the visible spectrum, based on a Fabry-Perot metal-dielectric-metal nanoresonator. The filter can have the same color transmitted in a range of incident angles from 0° up to 60° for TM polarization. The dielectrics used for each color filter are carefully chosen so that the angle-insensitive resonance conditions are satisfied while transmission values from 44.3% to 78.36% are achieved. We calculated the dielectric thickness for each filter and analyzed the optimal Ag thickness for maximum transmission. The proposed filters have a simple multilayer structure and do not require complex lithographic fabrication processes.

Polarization-dependent wide-angle color filter incorporating meta-dielectric nanostructures

A metadielectric nanostructure with narrow cavities is proposed, behaving as a reflective color filter for TM-polarized light while as a broadband reflector for TE-polarized light. By varying the cavity depth or changing the incident light polarization, reflective colors of the proposed structure cover the entire visible spectrum conveniently. In particular, the reflections of this proposed structure show good angular tolerance up to 50° for both polarizations. Furthermore, it can display colors even with two grating slits, which shows high printing resolution up to 70555 dpi, having great potential for applications of a large area color imaging and anticounterfeiting devices.

Planar broad-band and wide-angle hybrid plasmonic IMI filters with induced transmission for visible light applications

This work presents a technique for the design of visible optical filters using a hybrid plasmonic insulator-metal-insulator (IMI) structure. The proposed IMI visible light filter exhibits high transmission (∼91%) and an insertion loss of ∼0.4  dB with almost an omnidirectional field-of-view (0°-70°), a feature that is important for light collection in miniaturized devices. The proposed design also has a minimal polarization dependent loss of 0.2 dB at an angle of incidence of 60°. The effects of design parameters on the filter's performance are studied. Design rules of the filter are deduced along with physical justifications of the obtained results.

Full Color Generation Using Silver Tandem Nanodisks

Plasmonic effects associated with metallic nanostructures have been widely studied for color generation. It became apparent that highly saturated and bright colors are hard to obtain, and very small nanostructures need to be fabricated. To address this issue, in this study, we employ metal-insulator-metal sandwich nanodisks that support enhanced in-phase electric dipole modes, which are blue-shifted with respect to a single metal disk. The blue shift enables the generation of short wavelength colors with larger nanostructures. The radiation modes hybridize with the Wood's anomaly in periodic structures, creating narrow and high-resonance peaks in the reflection and deep valleys in the transmission spectra, thus producing vivid complementary colors in both cases. Full colors can be achieved by tuning the radius of the nanodisks and the periodicity of the arrays. Good agreement between simulations and experiments is demonstrated and analyzed in CIE1931, sRGB, and HSV color spaces. The presented method has potential for applications in imaging, data storage, ultrafine displays, and plasmon-based biosensors.

Controlling successive ionic layer absorption and reaction cycles to optimize silver nanoparticle-induced localized surface plasmon resonance effects on the paper strip

This study investigates why a silver nanoparticle (SNP)-induced surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) paper chip fabricated at low successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) cycles leads to a high SERS enhancement factor (7×10⁸) with an inferior nanostructure and without generating a hot spot effect. The multi-layered structure of SNPs on cellulose fibers, verified by magnified scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and analyzed by a computational simulation method, was hypothesized as the reason. The pattern of simulated local electric field distribution with respect to the number of SILAR cycles showed good agreement with the experimental Raman intensity, regardless of the wavelength of the excitation laser sources. The simulated enhancement factor at the 785-nm excitation laser source (2.8×10⁹) was 2.5 times greater than the experimental enhancement factor (1.1×10⁹). A 532-nm excitation laser source exhibited the highest maximum local electric field intensity (1.9×10¹¹), particularly at the interparticle gap called a hot spot. The short wavelength led to a strong electric field intensity caused by strong electromagnetic coupling arising from the SNP-induced local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects through high excitation energy. These findings suggest that our paper-based SILAR-fabricated SNP-induced LSPR model is valid for understanding SNP-induced LSPR effects.

Angle-tolerant hybrid plasmonic filters for visible light communications

This work presents what we believe is a novel design of a hybrid plasmonic-transmission blue filter for visible light communication systems that employ yellow phosphor-coated blue light-emitting diodes. The proposed filter balances the trade-off between transmission performance and tolerance to variation in angles of incidence (AOIs) while maintaining a low cost with limited complexity design. The designed filter operation is based upon quasi-plasmon mode excitation in a hybrid structure of alternating layers of silver and titanium dioxide over a silica substrate. A primary design approach for a hybrid plasmonic filter of five alternating layers is illustrated in detail. Needle optimization technique is further applied to achieve the required filter performance. The designed filter has an insertion loss of ∼1  dB over a spectral range of 400-485 nm and a minimal close to zero polarization-dependent loss for a wide range of AOI (slightly above 50°). The tolerance of the proposed design against fabrication errors is also tested. The performances of the proposed filters are tested for individual and simultaneous variations from the designed thicknesses, with a ±10% standard deviation from each layer's thickness.

Highly efficient omnidirectional structural color tuning method based on dielectric-metal-dielectric structure

A novel and convenient scheme is proposed to achieve angle insensitive color filtering across a large color gamut by simply altering the thickness of the dielectric layer of a dielectric-metal-dielectric grating structure. The plasmonic filter presents a great feature of angle resolved spectrum response up to 60° and is independent of the azimuthal angle and the polarization state as well so as to construct an omnidirectional filter for practical applications. The color tuning feature of the proposed filter with varied dielectric thickness is attributed to the modulation of the condition for the localized surface plasmon resonance, which bears responsibility for the omnidirectional property of this plasmonic filter. This color-tuning method with a single mold size required can have wide applications in fields of display, colorful decoration, printing, and so forth.