Nanoscale of biomimetic moth eye structures exhibiting inverse polarization phenomena at the Brewster angle

Shang-Yu Chuang; Hsuen-Li Chen; Jiann Shieh; Chun-Hung Lin; Chao-Chia Cheng; Hao-Wei Liu; Chen-Chieh Yu

doi:10.1039/C0NR00010H

Nanoscale of biomimetic moth eye structures exhibiting inverse polarization phenomena at the Brewster angle

Shang-Yu Chuang,^a Hsuen-Li Chen,*^a Jiann Shieh,*^b Chun-Hung Lin,^c Chao-Chia Cheng,^d Hao-Wei Liu^a and Chen-Chieh Yu^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
E-mail: hsuenlichen@ntu.edu.tw
Fax: +886-2-23634562
Tel: +886-2-23634562

^b National Nano Device Laboratory, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC
E-mail: jshieh@ndl.org.tw

^c Institute of Electro-Optical Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, ROC

^d Department of Physics, National Central University, Taiwan, ROC

Abstract

The unique functionalities of nanoscale structures in the natural world are an inspiration to the development of new nano-manufacturing techniques. For example, the cornea of the moth's eye features a sub-wavelength natural antireflective architecture. To date, almost all optical research into moth eye structures has been focused on their antireflective properties. No studies of inverse polarization phenomena at the Brewster angle have been reported, especially in biomimetic structures. For the first time, we discovered a unique inverse polarization phenomenon on moth eye structures that arises from TM-polarized light having a higher reflectance than TE-polarized light on moth eye structures at angles of incidence near the Brewster angle, unlike the behavior of polarized light on flat interfaces. Herein, we report a one-step colloidal lithography process that allows the fabrication of several kinds of moth eye structures. We characterized these moth eye structures experimentally and through rigorous coupled-wave analysis to understand the mechanism underlying this inverse polarization phenomenon in both visible and near infrared ray (NIR) regimes. Controlling the structural height and degree of non-close-packing of the moth eye structures had a dramatic effect on the extent of inverse polarization. This study is potentially important for various polarization-dependent devices and measurements.

Article information

https://doi.org/10.1039/C0NR00010H

Article type

Paper

Submitted

06 Jan 2010

Accepted

25 Jan 2010

First published

08 Mar 2010

Download Citation

Nanoscale, 2010,2, 799-805

Permissions

Request permissions

Nanoscale of biomimetic moth eye structures exhibiting inverse polarization phenomena at the Brewster angle

S. Chuang, H. Chen, J. Shieh, C. Lin, C. Cheng, H. Liu and C. Yu, Nanoscale, 2010, 2, 799 DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00010H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Nanoscale

Nanoscale of biomimetic moth eye structures exhibiting inverse polarization phenomena at the Brewster angle

Abstract

Article information

Download Citation

Permissions

Nanoscale of biomimetic moth eye structures exhibiting inverse polarization phenomena at the Brewster angle

Social activity

Search articles by author

Spotlight

Advertisements