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Mesoscopic light transport by very strong collective multiple scattering in nanowire mats

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 413–418 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Under the extreme condition of the scattering length being much shorter than the wavelength, light transport in random media is strongly modified by mesoscopic interference, and can even be halted in an effect known as Anderson localization. Anderson localization in three dimensions has recently been realized for acoustic waves and for cold atoms. Mats of disordered, high-refractive-index semiconductor nanowires are one of the strongest three-dimensional scattering materials for light, but localization has not been shown. Here, we use statistical methods originally developed for microwave waveguides to demonstrate that transport of light through nanowire mats is strongly correlated and governed by mesoscopic interference contributions. Our results confirm the contribution of only a few open modes to the transmission.

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Figure 1: Morphology and basic light transport parameters reveal strong multiple scattering in nanowire mats.
Figure 2: Enhanced spatial intensity fluctuations in optical transmission through nanowire mats are explained by a small number of open channels.
Figure 3: Total transmission measurements show a significant deviation from Gaussian statistics.
Figure 4: The mesoscopic regime is confirmed by observation of long-range spatial and spectral correlations.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank A. Mosk of the University of Twente and A. Lagendijk of the FOM-Institute AMOLF for valuable discussions. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement no. 265073). O.L.M. acknowledges financial support from the EPSRC (grant EP/J016918/1), from the Royal Society through an International Joint Project, and from the EU Network of Excellence ‘Nanophotonics for Energy Efficiency’ (N4E).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, SO17 1BJ, Southampton, UK

    Tom Strudley, Claire Blejean & Otto L. Muskens

  2. Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, Eindhoven, 5600MB, Netherlands

    Tilman Zehender & Erik P. A. M. Bakkers

  3. Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2600, GA, Netherlands

    Erik P. A. M. Bakkers

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  1. Tom Strudley
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Contributions

O.L.M. and T.S. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. C.B. and T.S. constructed the set-up, performed the experiments and data analysis. T.Z. fabricated and characterized the nanowire mats. O.L.M. and E.P.A.M.B. coordinated and directed the study. All authors contributed to manuscript preparation, data interpretation, and discussed the results.

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Correspondence to Otto L. Muskens.

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Strudley, T., Zehender, T., Blejean, C. et al. Mesoscopic light transport by very strong collective multiple scattering in nanowire mats. Nature Photon 7, 413–418 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.62

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