LAMINATED PHOTONIC BAND STRUCTURES WITH HIGH CONDUCTIVITY AND HIGH TRANSPARENCY: METALS UNDER A NEW LIGHT

We have developed a new transparent conductor based on one-dimensional metal-dielectric photonic band gap structures. Thin-film metal-dielectric filters containing at least 150nm of silver have been fabricated, with transmittance greater than 50% over the 500-600nm waveband, and sheet resistance of 0.1 Ohm/Square. Theoretical calculations predict at least 25% transparency levels for structures that contain 1/2 m of silver, and transparencies that approach 80% for structures that have in excess of 100 nm of silver. Some applications for transparent, conducting films include antennas embedded in windshields, electrodes on flat panel displays, electromagnetic shielding, and solar window panes, to name a few. The study of electromagnetic wave propagation at optical frequencies in metals has never been tackled in the past because it was never thought to be very interesting. The reason is simple and well known: metals are highly reflective (and absorptive) at nearly all wavelengths of lig...