TiO(2) is one of the most studied compounds in materials science. Owing to some outstanding properties it is used for instance in photocatalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, and biomedical devices. In 1999, first reports showed the feasibility to grow highly ordered arrays of TiO(2) nanotubes by a simple but optimized electrochemical anodization of a titanium metal sheet. This finding stimulated intense research activities that focused on growth, modification, properties, and applications of these one-dimensional nanostructures. This review attempts to cover all these aspects, including underlying principles and key functional features of TiO(2), in a comprehensive way and also indicates potential future directions of the field.

TiO2 nanotubes: synthesis and applications.

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

Artificially engineered metamaterials are now demonstrating unprecedented electromagnetic properties that cannot be obtained with naturally occurring materials. In particular, they provide a route to creating materials that possess a negative refractive index and offer exciting new prospects for manipulating light. This review describes the recent progress made in creating nanostructured metamaterials with a negative index at optical wavelengths, and discusses some of the devices that could result from these new materials.

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Optical negative-index metamaterials

Nano-optics of surface plasmon polaritons

We show a simple, robust, chemical route to the fabrication of ultrahigh-density arrays of nanopores with high aspect ratios using the equilibrium self-assembled morphology of asymmetric diblock copolymers. The dimensions and lateral density of the array are determined by segmental interactions and the copolymer molecular weight. Through direct current electrodeposition, we fabricated vertical arrays of nanowires with densities in excess of 1.9 x 10(11) wires per square centimeter. We found markedly enhanced coercivities with ferromagnetic cobalt nanowires that point toward a route to ultrahigh-density storage media. The copolymer approach described is practical, parallel, compatible with current lithographic processes, and amenable to multilayered device fabrication.

/pdf/ultrahigh-density-nanowire-arrays-grown-in-self-assembled-1mgxshd8uu.pdf

Ultrahigh-Density Nanowire Arrays Grown in Self-Assembled Diblock Copolymer Templates

The development of the ordered channel array in the anodic porous alumina was initiated by the textured pattern of the surface made by the molding process, and growth of an almost defect-free channel array can be achieved throughout the textured area. The long-range-ordered channel array with dimensions on the order of millimeters with a channel density of 1010 cm−2 was obtained, and the aspect ratio was over 150. The master for molding could be used many times, which makes it possible to overcome problems in the conventional nanolithographic technique, such as low through-put and high cost.

Highly ordered nanochannel-array architecture in anodic alumina

Extraordinary angle-sensitive light propagation, which we call a superprism phenomenon, was demonstrated at optical wavelength in photonic crystals with three-dimensional-periodic structure fabricated on Si substrate. The propagation beam was swung from $\ensuremath{-}90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ to $+90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ with a slight change in the incident angle within $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}12\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}.$ This effect together with wavelength sensitivity is at least two orders of magnitude stronger than that of the conventional prism. The incident-angle dependence including negative refraction and multiple beam branching was interpreted from highly anisotropic dispersion surfaces derived by photonic band calculation. These phenomena will be available to fabricate microscale light circuits on Si with LSI-compatible lithography techniques.

Superprism Phenomena in Photonic Crystals

We found that self-determining collimated light is generated in a photonic crystal fabricated on silicon. The divergence of the collimated beam is insensitive to that of the incident beam and much smaller than the divergence that would be generated in conventional Gaussian optics. The incident-angle dependence of the self-collimated light propagation including lens-like divergent propagation was interpreted in terms of the highly modulated dispersion surfaces with inflection points, where the curvature changes from downward to upward corresponding to respectively a concave/convex-lens case. This demonstration is an important step towards controlling beam profile in photonic crystal integrated light circuits and towards developing “photonic crystalline optics.”

Self-collimating phenomena in photonic crystals

Square and Triangular Nanohole Array Architectures in Anodic Alumina

Light-beam steering that is extremely wavelength dependent has been demonstrated by using photonic crystals fabricated on Si. The scanning span reached 50° with only a 1% shift of incident wavelength at around 1 μm. The resulting angular dispersion is two orders of magnitude larger than that achieved with conventional prisms or gratings. The application of such superprism phenomena promises to enable the fabrication of integrated micro lightwave circuits that will allow more efficient use of wavelength resources when used in wavelength multiplexers/demultiplexers or dispersion compensators by enabling lower loss and broader bandwidth.

Toshiaki Tamamura

Papers

Highly ordered nanochannel-array architecture in anodic alumina

Superprism Phenomena in Photonic Crystals

Self-collimating phenomena in photonic crystals

Square and Triangular Nanohole Array Architectures in Anodic Alumina

Photonic crystals for micro lightwave circuits using wavelength-dependent angular beam steering