Suppression of Brewster delocalization anomalies in an alternating isotropic-birefringent random layered medium

Jordan, Thomas M.; Partridge, Julian C.; Roberts, Nicholas W.

doi:10.1103/physrevb.88.041105

Cited by 16 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…the interfacial p -polarization reflection minima) of Type 1 and Type 2 crystals having a much wider angular separation than is possible in isotropic random stack systems (the Brewster angles of Type 2 crystals occur at 33° and 54°) [22]. This interpretation is supported by mathematical analysis in [20], which obtains an analytical expression for l p for a closely analogous isotropic–birefringent stack system in terms of isotropic–birefringent Fresnel reflection amplitudes [48,65]. …”

Section: Localization and Control Over The Polarization Properties Ofmentioning

confidence: 90%

Disordered animal multilayer reflectors and the localization of light

Jordan

Partridge

Roberts

2014

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Multilayer optical reflectors constructed from ‘stacks’ of alternating layers of high and low refractive index dielectric materials are present in many animals. For example, stacks of guanine crystals with cytoplasm gaps occur within the skin and scales of fish, and stacks of protein platelets with cytoplasm gaps occur within the iridophores of cephalopods. Common to all these animal multilayer reflectors are different degrees of random variation in the thicknesses of the individual layers in the stack, ranging from highly periodic structures to strongly disordered systems. However, previous discussions of the optical effects of such thickness disorder have been made without quantitative reference to the propagation of light within the reflector. Here, we demonstrate that Anderson localization provides a general theoretical framework to explain the common coherent interference and optical properties of these biological reflectors. Firstly, we illustrate how the localization length enables the spectral properties of the reflections from more weakly disordered ‘coloured’ and more strongly disordered ‘silvery’ reflectors to be explained by the same physical process. Secondly, we show how the polarization properties of reflection can be controlled within guanine–cytoplasm reflectors, with an interplay of birefringence and thickness disorder explaining the origin of broadband polarization-insensitive reflectivity.

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Section: Localization and Control Over The Polarization Properties Ofmentioning

confidence: 90%

Disordered animal multilayer reflectors and the localization of light

Jordan

Partridge

Roberts

2014

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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“…Using an analytical method based on the invariant imbedding theory [24,25], we will derive precise conditions for the occurrence of the BA in randomly-stratified anisotropic media and derive concise analytical expressions for the localization length in the weak disorder regime for two different random models. These results will be compared with more accurate numerical results obtained using the invariant imbedding method and also with the previous results obtained for randomly-layered anisotropic media [17,19]. In addition, we will derive some interesting properties of localization in anisotropic media from general analytical considerations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…We focus especially on the unique phenomenon called Brewster anomaly (BA), which is the delocalization of p-polarized electromagnetic waves in randomly-stratified media at a special incident angle [9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. Understanding the mechanism of this phenomenon in anisotropic media, which can be encountered frequently among both naturally-occurring media and fabricated metamaterials, is crucial in the development of polarization-insensitive reflectors and polarization-sensitive optical devices, as well as in understanding some bio-optical properties [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the discovery of the BA by Sipe et al [9], many authors have discussed different aspects of this phenomenon. Jordan et al have studied the BA occurring in randomly-layered anisotropic media consisting of alternating isotropic-uniaxial media using numerical calculations based on the transfer matrix method [17]. They have found that in the cases called mixed stacks, the BA is suppressed and does not occur, while it can occur in the cases called binary stacks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anderson localization and Brewster anomaly of electromagnetic waves in randomly-stratified anisotropic media

Kim

2019

Mater. Res. Express

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Anderson localization of p-polarized waves and the Brewster anomaly phenomenon, which is the delocalization of p-polarized waves at a special incident angle, in randomly-stratified anisotropic media are studied theoretically for two different random models. In the first model, the random parts of the transverse and longitudinal components of the dielectric tensor, between which the longitudinal component is the one in the stratification direction, are assumed to be uncorrelated, while, in the second model, they are proportional to each other. We calculate the localization length in a precise way using the invariant imbedding method. From analytical considerations, we provide an interpretation of the Brewster anomaly as a phenomenon arising when the wave impedance is effectively uniform. Similarly, the ordinary Brewster effect is interpreted as an impedance matching phenomenon. We derive the existence condition for the Brewster anomaly and concise analytical expressions for the localization length, which are accurate in the weak disorder regime. We find that the Brewster anomaly can arise only when disorder is sufficiently weak and only in the second model with a positive ratio of the random parts. The incident angle at which the anomaly occurs depends sensitively on the ratio of the random parts and the average values of the tensor components. In the cases where the critical angle of total reflection exists, the angle at which the anomaly occurs can be either bigger or smaller than the critical angle. When the transverse and longitudinal components are uncorrelated, localization is dominated by the the transverse component at small incident angles. When only the longitudinal component is random, the localization length diverges as θ −4 as the incident angle θ goes to zero and is also argued to diverge for all θ in the strong disorder limit.

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“…Within the skin the broadband reflectivity is created by a broad range of cytoplasm spacings between the guanine crystals, although there is also somewhat of a distribution in the thicknesses of crystals themselves [1,34,36,48]. The optical effects are theoretically underpinned by the physics of the localization of light [35,36,68]. While this is a typical picture of what is known as a distributed Bragg reflector, the intrinsic polarization properties of birefringent guanine create a very unusual type of reflector that affects the silvery camouflage in a remarkable way.…”

Section: Guanine In Silvery Fish: Increasing the Angular Reflectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection of the intrinsic polarization properties of animal optical materials creates enhanced structural reflectivity and camouflage

Feller

Jordan

Wilby

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Many animals use structural coloration to create bright and conspicuous visual signals. Selection of the size and shape of the optical structures animals use defines both the colour and intensity of the light reflected. The material used to create these reflectors is also important; however, animals are restricted to a limited number of materials: commonly chitin, guanine and the protein, reflectin. In this work we highlight that a particular set of material properties can also be under selection in order to increase the optical functionality of structural reflectors. Specifically, polarization properties, such as birefringence (the difference between the refractive indices of a material) and chirality (which relates to molecular asymmetry) are both under selection to create enhanced structural reflectivity. We demonstrate that the structural coloration of the gold beetle Chrysina resplendens and silvery reflective sides of the Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus are two examples of this phenomenon. Importantly, these polarization properties are not selected to control the polarization of the reflected light as a source of visual information per se. Instead, by creating higher levels of reflectivity than are otherwise possible, such internal polarization properties improve intensity-matching camouflage.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application’.

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Suppression of Brewster delocalization anomalies in an alternating isotropic-birefringent random layered medium

Cited by 16 publications

References 29 publications

Disordered animal multilayer reflectors and the localization of light

Disordered animal multilayer reflectors and the localization of light

Anderson localization and Brewster anomaly of electromagnetic waves in randomly-stratified anisotropic media

Selection of the intrinsic polarization properties of animal optical materials creates enhanced structural reflectivity and camouflage

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