The primary objective of the presented research is to develop a class of integrated compact silicon diffractive sensors (CSDS) based on in-plane diffraction gratings. This class of sensors uses a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate to limit costs, exploit established fabrication processes, enable integration of supporting electronics, and use the well-understood telecommunications wavelength of 1.55µm. Sensing is achieved by combining constant-diffraction-efficiency and highly-angularly-selective in-plane resonance-domain diffraction gratings. Detection is based on the diffraction efficiency of the highly angularly selective grating. In this research, the design processes for the constant-diffraction-efficiency and the highly angularly selective gratings are detailed. Grating designs are optimized with rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) and simulated with finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis. Fabrication results are presented for the CSDS gratings. An inductively coupled plasma (ICP) Bosch etch process enables grating fabrication to within one percent of designed values with nearly vertical sidewalls. Experimental results are presented for individual CSDS gratings, the prototype sensor, and a prototype linear sensor array. The results agree well with simulation. The linear sensor array prototype demonstrates the intrinsic splitting mechanism and forms the basis of a 2-D sensor array. Finally, a toluene sensor was functionally demonstrated. The proof-of-concept device includes a polymer immobilization layer and microfluidic delivery of toluene. Toluene concentrations as low as 100ppm are measured, corresponding to a refractive index change of 3x10⁻⁴ RIU.

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Tailoring the radiative properties of periodic micro/nanostructures can be used as an efficient way to create devices which have applications in energy harvesting, bioengineering and optical sensing. These structures are analyzed by a rigorous solution of the electromagnetic wave phenomena at the interfaces. The thesis explores the application of rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method to study the optical responses of microstructure arrays. First section of the thesis elucidates the various mechanisms which are responsible for causing enhanced light absorption in inclined parallel plate grating arrays. Illustrative evidences of surface plasmon and magnetic resonances are provided by one and two-dimensional plots prepared by RCWA. Analytical agreement with visual data is obtained through use of LC circuit models. Finally, the effects of different geometric parameters on the resonance conditions are investigated. The second part of the thesis deals with application of RCWA to study the effect of light scattering on inclined silver nanorod (AgNR) arrays grown on compact disc (CD) gratings. Depending on the manner in which AgNRs are oriented with respect to CD gratings, they exhibit different optical behavior to incoming light. Effects of both incident light polarization and AgNR orientation with respect to the grating have been studied through the use of RCWA and effective medium theory. Calculated results are compared with experimental values and good agreements are observed for total reflection as well as trends of individual diffraction orders.

An enhanced thermal imaging concept made possible through the development of a gradient-indexed metamaterial infrared detector that offers broadband transmission and reflection in THz waves. This thesis proposes a proof of feasibility for a metamaterial infrared detector containing an anti-reflective coating with various geometrically varying periodic metasurfaces, a gradient-indexed dielectric multilayer for near-perfect longpass filtering, and a gradient index of refraction (GRIN) metalens for enhanced focal plane thermal imaging. 2D Rigorous Coupled-Wave Analysis (RCWA) is used for understanding the photonic gratings performance based on material selection and varying geometric structure. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) is used to characterize performance for a diffractive metalens by optimizing the radius and arrangement of cylindrical nanorods to create a desired phase profile that can achieve a desired focal distance for projections on a detector for near- to far-infrared thermal imaging. Through combining a micromachined anti-reflective coating, a near-perfect longpass filter, and metamaterial GRIN metalens, infrared/THz focal plane thermal imaging can obtain faster photo-response and image quality at targeted wavelengths, which allows for scientific advancements in electro-optical devices for the Department of Defense, aerospace, and biochemical detection applications.

Bragg scattering of optical waves in thick gratings at extreme angles, where the scattered wave propagates parallel (extremely asymmetric scattering - EAS) or nearly parallel (grazing angle scattering - GAS) to the grating boundaries, is associated with many unique and practically important resonant phenomena. It has been demonstrated that one of the main physical mechanisms for these resonant phenomena is the diffractional divergence of the scattered wave inside and outside the grating region. This thesis fills the gaps in the theoretical and experimental understanding of Bragg scattering in gratings at extreme angles by investigating EAS and GAS in structures where diffractional divergence of waves is significantly affected by anisotropy and/or non-uniformities of the dielectric permittivity. Unusually high sensitivity of wave scattering in thick periodic gratings to small step-like variations of mean structural parameters at the grating boundaries is predicted and described for the case when the scattered wave (the +1 diffracted order) propagates almost parallel to the front grating boundary (the geometry of GAS). A unusual pattern of strong multiple resonances for bulk electromagnetic waves is predicted and analysed numerically in thick periodic holographic gratings in a guiding slab with mean permittivity that is greater than that of the surrounding media. It is demonstrated that these resonances are related to resonant generation of a new type of eigenmodes in a thick slab with a periodic grating. These eigenmodes are generically related to the grating -- they do exist not if the grating amplitude is zero. A new type of resonant coupling of bulk radiation into the conventional guided modes of a slab with a thick holographic grating is predicted and explained theoretically. It occurs in the presence of strong frequency detunings of the Bragg condition by means of interaction of the strongly non-eigen +1 diffracted order with the slab-grating boundaries. Therefore, it is only in the presence of step-like variations of the mean permittivity at the grating boundaries that this type of resonant coupling can occur. A new method for the analysis of EAS and GAS in anisotropic gratings is developed. This method is based on the consideration of the diffractional divergence of the scattered wave and the two-wave approximation in anisotropic gratings. Special efforts are focused on the analysis of EAS and GAS of extraordinary waves in uniaxial gratings. In particular, it is demonstrated that increasing curvature of the normal surface in the direction of propagation of the scattered wave results in increase of its diffraction divergence and the resonant amplitude. A theoretical model is developed for comparison of the theoretical predictions with data obtained from experimental observations of EAS in a holographic grating written in a photorefractive medium. The developed model is applied for the interpretation of experimental observations of EAS in BaTiO3 photorefractive crystals. Good agreement with the theoretical predictions is demonstrated.

This thesis fills in the gaps in the existing theory of wave phenomena in thick diffraction gratings at extreme angles of scattering, i.e. when the scattered wave propagates parallel or almost parallel to the grating boundaries. A consistent theory of a new type of Bragg scattering of bulk and guided optical modes in thick uniform and non-uniform, dissipative and non-dissipative, slanted periodic gratings has been developed. This type of scattering is called extremely asymmetrical scattering (EAS). One of the main distinctive features of EAS is the strong resonant increase of the scattered wave amplitude compared to the amplitude of the incident wave. Several unique combinations of strong resonances shaping a complex multi-resonant pattern of EAS in different types of gratings have been predicted and investigated theoretically and numerically. This includes the prediction of a new resonant wave effect in non-uniform gratings with varying phase – double-resonant EAS, the discovery of several sharp and strong resonances with respect to scattering angle in gratings with the scattered wave propagating almost parallel to the grating boundaries (grazing-angle scattering (GAS)) for the case of second-order scattering, and the prediction of a new type of eigenmode in gratings with second-order scattering (especially in gratings with large amplitude). In addition, several other important practical problems that may be crucial for the experimental observation and application of EAS and GAS have been solved. These are the determination of the tolerance of EAS to small grating imperfections, e.g., fluctuations of the grating amplitude, prediction of unusually high sensitivity of second-order EAS to small variations of mean structural parameters, determination of the effect of weak dissipation on EAS, etc. Physical reasons for the predicted resonances and effects are explained. In particular, the crucial role of the diffractional divergence for EAS and GAS has been revealed, especially for non-uniform gratings. Methods of analysis involve the approximate and rigorous approaches. The approximate method is based on understanding the role of the diffractional divergence in the geometry of EAS and the two-wave approximation (valid for any types of waves). The rigorous approach is based on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) and, in particular, the known enhanced T-matrix algorithm (by Moharam, et al.) that is numerically stable for narrow and wide gratings with arbitrary amplitude (valid only for bulk electromagnetic waves).