Light transport through disordered layers of dense gallium arsenide submicron particles

Year: 2012

Authors: van der Beek T., Barthelemy P., Johnson PM., Wiersma D., Lagendijk A.

Autors Affiliation: FOM-Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amste, Netherlands; Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, Netherlands; European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS), CNR-INO, Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy

Abstract: We present a study of optical transport properties of powder layers with submicrometer, strongly scattering gallium arsenide (GaAs) particles. Uniform, thin samples with well controlled thicknesses were created through the use of varying grinding times, sedimentation fractionation, annealing, and a new sedimentation technique. These fabrication parameters were optimized to produce maximum scattering and minimum absorption. The physical properties were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction. The optical transport mean-free path, absorption length, and the diffusion constant were determined for each sample using both continuous wave and time-resolved methods. The samples scatter strongly in the near infrared region. Total reflection and transmission measurements show that all of these samples have high absorption. X-ray diffraction results suggest that the source of this absorption is grinding induced strain and/or defects in the crystal structure. For all the different grinded GaAs powder samples that we investigated, the absorption length was less than ten micrometers.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW B

Volume: 85 (11)      Pages from: 115401  to: 115401

More Information: We thank the University of Amsterdam x-ray crystallography department for putting their facilities at our disposal, and University of Twente Mesa+ for measuring the x-ray SEM. We thank Nir Rotenberg and Jacopo Bertolotti for their contributions. This work is part of the research program of the \”Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie\” (FOM), which is financially supported by the Dutch organization for scientific research (NWO) and made possible by the Financial support by ENI-Donegani, Italy, and the European Network of Excellence on Nanophotonics for Energy Efficiency.
KeyWords: Strongly scattering media; Weak-localization; Coherent backscattering; Anderson localization; Classical diffusion; Internal-reflection; Fluctuations; Transmission; Propagation; Dimensions
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.85.115401

Citations: 42
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