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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Fabrication And Characterization Of Photonic Crystal Slow Light Waveguides And Cavities
Published on: November 30, 2012
Can photonic heterostructures provably outperform single-material geometries?
Alessio Amaolo1, Pengning Chao2, Thomas J Maldonado3
1Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Abstract:
Recent advances in photonic optimization have enabled calculation of performance bounds for a wide range of electromagnetic objectives, albeit restricted to single-material systems. Motivated by growing theoretical interest and fabrication advances, we present a framework to bound the performance of photonic heterostructures and apply it to investigate maximum absorption characteristics of multilayer films and compact, free-form multi-material scatterers. Limits predict trends seen in topology-optimized geometries - often coming within factors of two of specific designs - and may be utilized in conjunction with inverse designs to predict when heterostructures are expected to outperform their optimal single-material counterparts.
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