INTENSITY CONTROLLED, NONSPECULAR RESONANT BACK REFLECTION OF LIGHT

Subject and Purpose. Theoretical demonstration of controllable features of a non-conventional resonant back reflection of light, realizable with the aid of a structured silicon-on-metal covering. Methods and Methodology. The investigation has been performed through a full-wave numerical simulation in a finite-element technique. Results. The nonlinear optical properties of a planar structure, involving a set of silicon disks disposed periodically on a silver substrate, have been studied in the Littrow scenario of wave reflection. The structure manifests a bistable resonant reflectivity property. The magnitudes of both specular and back reflection ratios can be controlled by means of varying the incident light intensity. Conclusions. An array of identical silicon disks, placed in a periodic order on a silver substrate, can be employed as an efficiently excitable and tunable nonlinear resonant reflective structure implementing Littrow’s non-specular diffraction scenario. As has been found, the effect of nonlinear response from the silicon disks can be used for implementing a regimen of bistable back reflection, controllable by means of varying the incident wave’s intensity. The nonlinear tunability of the silicon-on-silver structure does promise extensions of the operation area of classical metamaterials of sub-wavelength scale sizes as it offers new