Bottom-up assembly of nanomaterials using solution-processed methods is ideally suited for use in fabrication of large-area optoelectronic devices. Tailorable visible and near-infrared absorption in shaped nanostructured noble metals is strongly influenced by localized plasmon resonance effects. Obtaining sharp and selective absorption with solution-processed methods is a challenge and requires suitable control on the growth kinetics, which ultimately results in appropriate size and morphology of the final product. In this work, a photo-assisted multigenerational growth process for synthesis of silver nanotriangle ink with narrow linewidth absorbance is developed. This technique combines photochemical and seed-mediated growth approaches. The resulting ink exhibits a sharp absorption at 700 nm with full width at half maximum of ∼170 nm, verified by absorption as well as dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy measurements. Numerical modeling using finite-difference time-domain calculations yields a close match with observed absorption and is used to examine electric field distribution and enhancement factor resonating at 720 nm. The synthesis technique is potentially useable for production of highly selective absorbers in solution phase.

The processing method applied to the side surface is different from the method applied to the light pass surface in neodymium phosphate glass (Nd:glass), and thus subsurface defects remain after processing. The subsurface defects in the side surface influence the gain uniformity of Nd:glass, which is a key factor to evaluate the performance of amplifiers. The scattering characteristics of side subsurface defects were simulated by finite difference time domain (FDTD) Solutions software. The scattering powers of the glass fabricated by a computer numerical control (CNC) machine without cladding were tested at different incident angles. The trend of the curve was similar to the simulated result, while the smallest point was different with the complex true morphology. The simulation showed that the equivalent residual reflectivity of the cladding glass can be more than 0.1% when the number of defects in a single gridding is greater than 50.

A fully two-dimensional theoretical study of the electromagnetic wave propagation through Metal–Liquid Crystal–Metal (M–LC–M) waveguide structure is presented. Dispersion relations corresponding to both symmetric and antisymmetric-coupled surface plasmons polaritons modes in M–LC–M structure are derived and numerically solved. The effects of LC tilt angles on the effective refractive index and propagation length are proposed. The analytical method is in good agreement with those obtained from finite-difference time-domain simulation. The obtained analytic formula can be used as an efficient element in designing tunable ultrahigh nanoscale integrated plasmonic devices.

Electromagnetic wave propagation in complex dispersive media is governed by the time dependent Maxwell's equations coupled to equations that describe the evolution of the induced macroscopic polarization. We consider “polydispersive” materials represented by distributions of dielectric parameters in a polarization model. The work focuses on a novel computational framework for such problems involving Polynomial Chaos Expansions as a method to improve the modeling accuracy of the Debye model and allow for easy simulation using the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. Stability and dispersion analyzes are performed for the approach utilizing the second order Yee scheme in two spatial dimensions.

A novel waveguide called multilayer porous waveguide (MPW) is proposed as microwave low-loss transmission lines. MPW is a fully rectangular dielectric waveguide composed of several periodically rectangular air gaps in a bulk dielectric that can be easily formed by placing several dielectric substrates in interval with air gaps. The loss and propagating characteristics of both TE and TM modes in MPW are studied. The TE mode confined in the air gaps has a lower loss than the TM mode spread out in air gaps and dielectric; however, the loss of TM mode is still less than that of conventional microwave waveguides. Finally, MPW is an artificial material with desirable electrical permittivity and loss that can be used in structure of conventional waveguides.

An in vitro system for 2.45 GHz microwave (MW) exposure with real-time fluorescence measurements is proposed. This system is specifically designed for the measurement of those biophysical parameters of living cells or membrane models which can be quantified by spectrofluorometric methods (e.g. membrane generalized polarization (GP), membrane fluidity, membrane potential, etc.). The novelty of the system consists in the possibility to perform fluorescence measurements on the biological samples simultaneously with their exposure to MW. The MW applicator is an open ended coaxial antenna which is dipped into a cuvette. The distribution of electromagnetic field and specific absorption rate (SAR) in the cuvette are provided from a rigorous electromagnetic numerical analysis performed with a finite difference-time domain (FDTD) based tool. With this system, fluorescence measurements were used to calculate the membrane GP values of giant unilamellar vesicle suspensions that were acquired during exposure to a 1.2 W incident power. For this power, the SAR distribution and mean SAR value for the whole volume were calculated based on temperature measurements made at different positions inside the cuvette.