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The Wave Nature of Light

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The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles traveling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion.

$Interference and Diffraction$ 02:18

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials

Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials

Published on: September 26, 2014

Bridging the gap between surface physics and photonics.

Pekka Laukkanen¹, Marko Punkkinen¹, Mikhail Kuzmin¹

¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

Reports on Progress in Physics. Physical Society (Great Britain)

|February 19, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Semiconductor surface defects cause significant losses in photonic devices. Bridging surface physics with photonics offers solutions for improved device performance and reduced electrical losses through advanced passivation techniques.

Keywords:

antireflection coating atomic and electronic structure carrier recombination interface defect metal contact surface oxidation wet chemical treatment

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Last Updated: Jun 29, 2026

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Area of Science:

Photonics
Surface Physics
Semiconductor Technology

Background:

Photonic device performance is limited by semiconductor surface defects, causing photo-electric losses.
Challenges include signal attenuation, light absorption, carrier recombination, and leakage currents.
Current passivation methods require atomic-scale understanding of surface phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

To review evolving research connecting surface physics to photonic device passivation.
To identify open questions and potential solutions for enhancing device performance.
To bridge the gap between fundamental surface science and practical photonic applications.

Main Methods:

Review of research on wet chemically cleaned semiconductor surfaces versus ultrahigh vacuum studies.
Emphasis on understanding embedded interfaces formed by thin films on semiconductor crystals.
Integration of quantum mechanical simulation methods for interface property analysis.

Main Results:

Wet chemically cleaned surfaces differ from ultrahigh vacuum studied surfaces.
Embedded interfaces in devices complicate atomic and electronic structure measurements.
Metal-semiconductor interfaces are crucial for carrier transmission in photonic devices.

Conclusions:

Atomic-scale control of semiconductor surfaces is key to improving photonic devices.
Combining surface physics insights with photonic engineering is essential.
Low-resistive, passivated contacts with ultrathin tunneling barriers are promising for reducing electrical losses.