Muskens OL, Diedenhofen SL, Kaas BC, Algra RE, Bakkers EPAM, Rivas JG
and Lagendijk A
Large Photonic
Strength of Highly Tunable Resonant Nanowire Materials
Nano Letters 9 no. 3 (2009) 930-934
Abstract:
We demonstrate that highly tunable nanowire arrays with optimized
diameters, volume fractions, and alignment form one of the strongest
optical scattering materials to date. Using a new broad-band technique,
we explore the scattering strength of the nanowires by varying
systematically their diameter and alignment on the substrate. We
identity strong Mie-type internal resonances of the nanowires which can
be tuned over the entire visible spectrum. The tunability of nanowire
materials opens up exciting new prospects for fundamental and applied
research ranging from random lasers to solar cells, exploiting the
extreme scattering strength, internal resonances, and preferential
alignment of the nanowires. Although we have focused our investigation
on gallium phosphide nanowires, the results can be universally applied
to other types of group III-V, II-VI, or IV nanowires.