Impact of morphology and scale on the physical properties of periodic/quasiperiodic micro- and nano- structures

Abstract

A central pillar of real-world engineering is controlled molding of different types of waves (such as optical and acoustic waves). The impact of these wave-molding devices is directly dependent on the level of wave control they enable. Recently, artificially structured metamaterials have emerged, offering unprecedented flexibility in manipulating waves. The design and fabrication of these metamaterials are keys to the next generation of real-world engineering. This thesis aims to integrate computer science, materials science, and physics to design novel metamaterials and functional devices for photonics and nanotechnology, and translate these advances into realworld applications. Parallel finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) and finite element analysis (FEA) programs are developed to investigate a wide range of problems, including optical micromanipulation of biological systems [1, 2], 2-pattern photonic crystals [3], integrated optical circuits on an optical chip [4], photonic quasicrystals with the most premier photonic properties to date [5], plasmonics [6], and structure-property correlation analysis [7], multiple-exposure interference lithography [8], and the world's first searchable database system for nanostructures [9].