Design rules for customizable optical materials based on nanocomposites

TL;DR

This paper explores how nanocomposites with engineered optical properties can be effectively used in bulk applications by analyzing scattering effects and establishing design rules through theoretical and numerical methods.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the conditions and parameter ranges for using nanocomposites in bulk optical applications, including validity and design guidelines for effective medium theories.

Findings

Bulk materials are feasible only within specific parameter ranges.

Different effective medium regimes are distinguished based on scattering effects.

Design rules for tuning material parameters for targeted optical applications.

Abstract

Nanocomposites with tailored optical properties can provide a new degree of freedom for optical design. However, despite their potential these materials remain unused in bulk applications. Here we investigate the conditions under which they can be used for optical applications using Mie theory, effective medium theories, and numerical simulations based on the finite element method. We show that due to scattering different effective medium regimes have to be distinguished, and that bulk materials can only be realized in a specific parameter range. Our analysis also enables us to quantify the range of validity of different effective medium theories, and identify design rules on how the free material parameters should be adjusted for specific applications.