The term photonic crystals appears because of the analogy between electron waves in crystals and the light waves in artificial periodic dielectric structures. During the recent years the investigation of one-, two-and three-dimensional periodic structures has attracted a widespread attention of the world optics community because of great potentiality of such structures in advanced applied optical fields. The interest in periodic structures has been stimulated by the fast development of semiconductor technology that now allows the fabrication of artificial structures, whose period is comparable with the wavelength of light in the visible and infrared ranges.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6354/16969/00781867.pdf

Photonic crystals

IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/5/31325/01456922.pdf

An introduction to optical waveguides

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is one of the first semiconductors discovered. It has traditionally shown remarkable versatility and promise for novel fundamental properties and diverse applications. The nanoscale morphologies of ZnS have been proven to be one of the richest among all inorganic semiconductors. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research activities related to ZnS nanostructures. We begin with a historical background of ZnS, description of its structure, chemical and electronic properties, and its unique advantages in specific potential applications. This is followed by in-detail discussions on the recent progress in the synthesis, analysis of novel properties and potential applications, with the focus on the critical experiments determining the electrical, chemical and physical parameters of the nanostructures, and the interplay between synthetic conditions and nanoscale morphologies. Finally, we highlight the recent achievements regarding the improvement of ZnS novel properties and finding prospective applications, such as field emitters, field effect transistors (FETs), p-type conductors, catalyzators, UV-light sensors, chemical sensors (including gas sensors), biosensors, and nanogenerators. Overall this review presents a systematic investigation of the ‘synthesis-property-application’ triangle for the diverse ZnS nanostructures.

ZnS nanostructures: From synthesis to applications

Analysis of one-dimensional photonic crystal based sensor for detection of blood plasma and cancer cells

Believing that the detection of hemoglobin possesses a vital role in the discovery of many diseases, we present in this work a simple method for sensing and detecting hemoglobin based on one-dimensional photonic crystals. Implementing hemoglobin as a defect layer inside the proposed photonic crystal results in a resonant peak evolving within the bandgaps. The strong dependence of these resonant peaks on concentration and the consequent refractive index are the essential bases of the detection process. The role played by these parameters together with the angle of incidence on performance and efficiency of our sensor is demonstrated. In the vicinity of the investigated results, we demonstrate the values of sensitivity, figure of merit (FOM), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and resolution to optimize the performance of our sensor. The numerical results show a significant effect of polarization mode on performance of this sensor. For TE polarization with an angle of incidence equal to 45°, we investigated sensitivity of 167nmRIU-1, SNR of 0.23, FOM of 0.63RIU-1, and resolution of 257 nm.

Detection and sensing of hemoglobin using one-dimensional binary photonic crystals comprising a defect layer

1D porous silicon photonic crystals comprising Tamm/Fano resonance as high performing optical sensors

Properties of ternary photonic crystal consisting of dielectric/plasma/dielectric as a lattice period

In this research article , we present theoretical and numerical investigations concerning the effects of temperature on the transmittance properties of one dimensional annular photonic crystals. The theoretical basis of our study adopts the modified transfer matrix method applied to optical fiber waveguides. The numerical results showed many features that could be of interest. In this regard , we investigate this design to enhance the values of sensitivity based on its geometry. Our design exhibits a remarkable response to temperature changes with a sensitivity of about 0.033 nm/°C which is considered significantly high . Also, it is found that the upper edge of the photonic band gap increases considerably with temperature changes, while the lower edge is almost unchanged . The effects of the core radius and number of periods on the transmittance of our annular photonic crystals design have been also investigated. It is found that an appropriate choice for the core would give flexibility of fabrication and stability of transmission output. In addition, this study reveals that the phase shift of the reflected cylindrical waves within the core is strongly dependent on temperature. We believe our structure is potentially promising in designing and fabrication of novel high-performance temperature sensors and integrated waveguide devices such as optical switches and filters.

Mazen M. Abadla

Papers

Detection and sensing of hemoglobin using one-dimensional binary photonic crystals comprising a defect layer

1D porous silicon photonic crystals comprising Tamm/Fano resonance as high performing optical sensors

Properties of ternary photonic crystal consisting of dielectric/plasma/dielectric as a lattice period

Thermo-optical properties of binary one dimensional annular photonic crystal including temperature dependent constituents

Symmetric multilayer slab waveguide structure with a negative index material: TM case