Low-loss sharp bends in polymer waveguides enabled by the introduction of a thin metal layer.

Embodying a thin metallic layer underneath the core of a sharply bent polymer waveguide is shown in this work to considerably reduce the total losses of both the quasi-transverse-electric and quasi-transverse-magnetic modes. The computational results show a total loss as low as ~0.02 dB/90° for the quasi-transverse-electric mode for radii between 6 and 13 µm at the wavelength of 1.55 µm, which corresponds to a 10-fold improvement over the purely dielectric counterpart. The radii range exhibiting such low total loss can be tuned by properly selecting the parameters of the structure. For the quasi-transverse-magnetic mode, the metal layer reduces the total losses modestly for radii ranging from 3 to 10 µm. Simulation results for different structural parameters are presented.

Plasmonic backcontact grating for P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells enabling strong optical absorption increased in all polarizations.

In P3HT:PCBM based organic solar cells we propose and demonstrate numerically plasmonic backcontact grating architectures for strong optical absorption enhanced in both transverse-magnetic and transverse-electric polarizations. Even when the active material is partially replaced by the metallic grating (without increasing the active layer film thickness), we show computationally that the light absorption in thin-film P3HT:PCBM is increased by a maximum factor of ~21% considering both polarizations under AM1.5G solar radiation and over a half-maximum incidence angle of 45° (where the enhancement drops to its half) compared to the same cell without a grating. This backcontact grating outperforms the typical plasmonic grating placed in PEDOT:PSS layer.