Resonant waveguide gratings (RWGs), also known as guided mode resonant (GMR) gratings or waveguide‐mode resonant gratings, are dielectric structures where these resonant diffractive elements benefit from lateral leaky guided modes from UV to microwave frequencies in many different configurations. A broad range of optical effects are obtained using RWGs such as waveguide coupling, filtering, focusing, field enhancement and nonlinear effects, magneto‐optical Kerr effect, or electromagnetically induced transparency. Thanks to their high degree of optical tunability (wavelength, phase, polarization, intensity) and the variety of fabrication processes and materials available, RWGs have been implemented in a broad scope of applications in research and industry: refractive index and fluorescence biosensors, solar cells and photodetectors, signal processing, polarizers and wave plates, spectrometers, active tunable filters, mirrors for lasers and optical security features. The aim of this review is to discuss the latest developments in the field including numerical modeling, manufacturing, the physics, and applications of RWGs. Scientists and engineers interested in using RWGs for their application will also find links to the standard tools and references in modeling and fabrication according to their needs.

Resonant waveguide gratings (RWGs) are subwavelength structures of great interest for biosensors, optical filters and optical security applications. We demonstrate and characterize a beam steering device, where the incoupling and out-coupling processes make use of different RWGs that share the same ultrathin dielectric waveguide. This device enables selective color-filtering and redirection of a white light source (such as a white LED). Furthermore, this structure is compatible with up-scalable fabrication processes such as roll-to-roll replication, and is relevant for high-volume production. Because of its color selectivity and its use in low coherence illumination conditions, such a beam steering device could be implemented in a variety of optical applications such as optical security, multifocal or monochromatic lenses, biosensors, and see-through optical combiners for near-eye displays.

A colorimetric sensor providing a direct visual indication of chemical contamination was developed. The sensor is a combination of a chemically sensitive dye layer and a resonant waveguide grating. Enhancement of the light absorption by the photonic structure can be clearly seen. The detection is based on the color change of the reflected light after exposure to a gas or a liquid. Low-cost fabrication and compatibility with environments where electricity cannot be used make this device very attractive for applications in hospitals, industries, with explosives, and in traffic.

We present an integrated system with automated sample fabrication for combinatorial investigations of solutionprocessed organic materials. To illustrate the applicability of the system, we give examples of typical experimental results with organic electronic devices. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on a poly-(N-vinylcarbazole) matrix system with small molecule hole-transporter N,N 0 -Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N 0 -diphenyl-benzidine (TPD) and electron transporter 2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-5-(4-biphenylyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD) were optimized. In a single experimental run, the optimum range of TPD and PBD concentrations has been determined. Furthermore, we screened the influence of a gate dielectric modification with poly(methyl silsesquioxane) in organic field effect transistors and show that the choice of the material system, which constitutes the interface between the gate dielectric and the organic semiconductor, modulates the mobility of the field-effect device by more than two orders of magnitude. Finally, we present a combinatorial study of the influence of PEDOT-PSS and P3HT-PC 61 BM layer thickness variation in organic photo voltaic cells. To summarize, we describe the possibilities of a combinatorial tool for solution based multilayer devices comprising functional materials. The tool is applicable to a vast variety of such materials. V C 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: [1587][1588][1589][1590][1591][1592][1593] 2010

The optoelectronic properties of image sensors, among which are the photosensitivity and resolution, are key to the quality factors for imaging as well as spectrometry in Earth observation and scientific space exploration missions. Microlens arrays (MLAs) further improve state-of-the-art CMOS image sensors (CIS) by redirecting more photons into the photosensitive surface/volume of each pixel. This paper reports the design, deposition, optical characterization, and reliability assessment of such an MLA made from a UV-curable hybrid polymer and replicated on a packaged back-illuminated CIS having a pixel pitch of 15.5 µm. We find that such MLAs are highly stable to temperature variations, exposure to humidity, mechanical shocks and vibrations, as well as irradiation by gamma rays, while improving the parasitic light sensitivity by a factor of 1.8. Such MLAs can be applied on a large variety of image sensors, back-illuminated but mostly front-illuminated, with pixel pitches ranging from a few to several hundreds of micrometers, making them suitable for most specifications of the space industry.