A simple methodfor the fabrication of anodic aluminum oxide films (AOFs) with perfectly ordered structures (see Figure) is presented by these authors. A common optical grating is used to prepattern the aluminum substrate, which is subsequently anodized under mild conditions to yield an AOF with a photonic bandgap in the visible region.

We investigate the blue photoluminescence of Si+-implanted SiO2 films under picosecond UV excitation. The emission intensity exhibits a nonlinear increase with increasing excitation intensities, accompanied by pulse shortening. The photoluminescence decays nonmonoexponentially in time. However, the nonlinearities are not associated with significant spectral narrowing. To explain the results, we propose and numerically investigate a kinetic model based on competition between radiative (both spontaneous and stimulated) and nonradiative recombination in isolated luminescence centers in the SiO2 matrix. Good agreement between theoretical and experimental data seems to confirm the existence of stimulated emission in the films, however, under extremely high excitation densities only (approximately 100 MW/cm2).

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The optical properties of two-dimensional photonic crystals (PhCs) in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) films obtained using a simple and low-cost pre-patterning procedure are described. The prepatterning of the initial Al film surface was carried out by imprinting with an optical diffraction grating; the anodization of the prepatterned sample led to the formation of a good quality, large-area PhC with a triangular lattice of air holes (lattice period a ¼ 0:48 mm, hole radius r ¼ 0:2 mm) in an AAO film. The optical transmission spectra of the sample were measured at visible wavelengths in the range of 0.4-1.0 mm for various incidence angles and linear polarizations of the probing light. The detailed analysis of the transmission data indicates a photonic band gap in the 0.9-1.0 mm wavelength range for light waves linearly polarized in the direction perpendicular to the axes of PhC pores.

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Absorption saturation at 1.064 μm wavelength in Cu2−xSe material nanostructured by means of an original method—formation and hosting in an array of electrochemically grown alumina voids—was investigated. Columnlike channels provide growth of copper selenide in a shape of nanowire with a fixed diameter. Experimental results obtained from measuring nanowires of various diameters (∅10, 15, 20, and 70 nm) revealed that the ∅20 nm case is most efficient for absorption saturation, manifesting highest optical modulation depth and lowest interlevel transition rate evaluated. A model to analyze the conditions for absorption saturation and absorption recovery dynamics was developed. Depending on pump intensity the nonmonotonous increase in recovery time for the highest applied values was interpreted as filling up of states at an intermediate energy level. From modeling, important material science parameters, such as concentration of resonant and trapping/recombination states, interlevel transition rate, capture time, characteristic for copper selenide, have been evaluated and compared for different samples. Finally, the consequence of the model to a working copper selenide energy level scheme was considered.

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