Akhlesh Lakhtakia

Thin-film solar cells are cheap and easy to manufacture but require improvements as their efficiencies are low compared to that of the commercially dominant crystalline-silicon solar cells. An optoelectronic model is formulated and implemented along with the differential evolution algorithm to assess the efficacy of grading the bandgap of the CIGS, CZTSSe, and AlGaAs photon-absorbing layer for optimizing the power-conversion efficiency of thin-film CIGS, CZTSSe, and AlGaAs solar cells, respectively, in the two-terminal single-junction format. Each thin-film solar cell is modeled as a photonic device as well as an electronic device. Solar cells with two (or more) photon-absorbing layers can also be handled using the optolelectronic model, whose results will stimulate experimental techniques for bandgap grading to enable ubiquitous small-scale harnessing of solar energy.

As the existence of all life forms on our planet is currently in grave danger from the climate emergency caused by Homo sapiens, the words "sustainability" and "eco-responsibility" have entered the daily-use vocabularies of scientists, engineers, economists, business managers, industrialists, capitalists, and policy makers. Normal activities undertaken for the design of products and systems in industrialisms must be revamped. As the bioworld is a great resource for eco-responsible design activities, an overview of biologically inspired design is presented in this book in simple terms for anyone with even high-school education. Beginning with an introduction to the process of design in industry, the book presents the bioworld as a design resource along with the rationale for biologically inspired design. Problem-driven and solution-driven approaches for biologically inspired design are described next. The last chapter is focused on biologically inspired design for environment.

The transfer-matrix method (TMM) in electromagnetics and optics is a powerful and convenient mathematical formalism for determining the planewave reflection and transmission characteristics of an infinitely extended slab of a linear material. While the TMM was introduced for a homogeneous uniaxial dielectric-magnetic material in the 1960s, and subsequently extended for multilayered slabs, it has more recently been developed for the most general linear materials, namely bianisotropic materials. By means of the rigorous coupled-wave approach, slabs that are periodically nonhomogeneous in the thickness direction can also be accommodated by the TMM. In this book an overview of the TMM is presented for the most general contexts as well as for some for illustrative simple cases. Key theoretical results are given; for derivations, the reader is referred to the references at the end of each chapter. Albums of numerical results are also provided, and the computer code used to generate these results are provided in an appendix.

The aim of this book is to extend and update the standard treatments of crystal optics found in classical textbooks. It provides a broad overview of electromagnetic anisotropy, bianisotropy, and chirality. The topics covered are constitutive relations (Chapter 1); examples of anisotropy, bianisotropy, and chirality (Chapter 2); spacetime symmetries (Chapter 3); planewave propagation (Chapter 4); dyadic Green functions including depolarization dyadics (Chapter 5); homogenization formalisms (Chapter 6); nonlinear aspects (Chapter 7); surface waves (Chapter 8) and topological insulators (Chapter 9). New additions in this second edition are: Chapters 8 and 9, expanded treatments of active mediums in Chapter 4, and the Huygens principle and the Ewald-Oseen extinction theorem in Chapter 5. This book is perfect for postbaccalaureate students and researchers seeking an introductory survey of the electromagnetic theory of complex mediums.

In any linear system, the input and the output are connected by means of a linear operator. When the input can be notionally represented by a function that is null valued everywhere except at a specific location in spacetime, the corresponding output is called the Green function in field theories. Dyadic Green functions are commonplace in electromagnetics, because both the input and the output are vector functions of space and time. This book provides a survey of the state-of-the-art knowledge of infinite space dyadic Green functions.

In any linear system, the input and the output are connected by means of a linear operator. When the input can be notionally represented by a function that is null valued everywhere except at a specific location in spacetime, the corresponding output is called the Green function in field theories. Dyadic Green functions are commonplace in electromagnetics, because both the input and the output are vector functions of space and time. This book provides a survey of the state-of-the-art knowledge of infinite space dyadic Green functions.

In any linear system the input and the output are connected by means of a linear operator. When the input can be notionally represented by a function that is null valued everywhere except at a specific location in space-time, the corresponding output is called the Green function in field theories. Dyadic Green functions are commonplace in electromagnetics, because both the input and the output are vector functions of space and time. This book provides a survey of the state-of-the-art knowledge of infinite-space dyadic Green functions.

Electromagnetic homogenization is the process of estimating the effective electromagnetic properties of composite materials in the long-wavelength regime, wherein the length scales of nonhomogeneities are much smaller than the wavelengths involved. This is a bird's-eye view of currently available homogenization formalisms for particulate composite materials. It presents analytical methods only, with focus on the general settings of anisotropy and bianisotropy. The authors largely concentrate on 'effective' materials as opposed to 'equivalent' materials, and emphasize the fundamental (but sometimes overlooked) differences between these two categories of homogenized composite materials. The properties of an 'effective' material represents those of its composite material, regardless of the geometry and dimensions of the bulk materials and regardless of the orientations and polarization states of the illuminating electromagnetic fields. In contrast, the properties of 'equivalent' materials only represent those of their corresponding composite materials under certain restrictive circumstances.

Electromagnetic homogenization is the process of estimating the effective electromagnetic properties of composite materials in the long-wavelength regime, wherein the length scales of nonhomogeneities are much smaller than the wavelengths involved. This is a bird’s-eye view of currently available homogenization formalisms for particulate composite materials. It presents analytical methods only, with focus on the general settings of anisotropy and bianisotropy.The authors largely concentrate on ‘effective’ materials as opposed to ‘equivalent’ materials, and emphasize the fundamental (but sometimes overlooked) differences between these two categories of homogenized composite materials. The properties of an ‘effective’ material represents those of its composite material, regardless of the geometry and dimensions of the bulk materials and regardless of the orientations and polarization states of the illuminating electromagnetic fields. In contrast, the properties of ‘equivalent’ materials only represent those of their corresponding composite materials under certain restrictive circumstances.

This book deals with the fundamental aspects of electromagnetic field theory in chiral media in the frequency domain. All such aspects are covered: field equations, constitutive equations, integral equations and representations, Green's functions, radiation, reciprocity relations, and equivalence and duality relations. Scattering of waves by chiral spheres and cylinders are covered, and layered chiral media are examined. This book is timely both for theorists and experimentalists. Theorists can build upon the work to discover and predict new phenomena, while experimentalists may use it to design clever experiments and construct artificially chiral materials.

For decades, the surface-plasmon-polariton wave guided by the interface of simple isotropic materials dominated the scene. However, in recent times research on electromagnetic surface waves guided by planar interfaces has expanded into new and exciting areas. In the 1990's research focused on advancing knowledge of the newly discovered Dyakonov wave. More recently, much of the surface wave research is motivated by the proliferation of nanotechnology and the growing number of materials available with novel properties. This book leads the reader from the relatively simple surface-plasmon-polariton wave with isotropic materials to the latest research on various types of electromagnetic surface waves guided by the interfaces of complex materials enabled by recent developments in nanotechnology. This includes: Dyakonov waves guided by interfaces formed with columnar thin films, Dyakonov-Tamm waves guided by interfaces formed with sculptured thin films, and multiple modes of surface-plasmon-polariton waves guided by the interface of a metal and a periodically varying dielectric material.

A Crash Course. Covers structural characteristics and properties of nanostructures, nanofabrication techniques, and applications for nonmaterials.

The topics of anisotropy and bianisotropy are fundamental to electromagnetics from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. These properties underpin a host of complex and exotic electromagnetic phenomenons in naturally occurring materials and in relativistic scenarios, as well as in artificially produced metamaterials. As a unique guide to this rapidly developing field, the book provides a unified presentation of key classic and recent results on the studies of constitutive relations, spacetime symmetries, planewave propagation, dyadic Green functions, and homogenization of composite materials. This book also offers an up-to-date extension to standard treatments of crystal optics with coverage on both linear and weakly nonlinear regimes.

Beltrami fields exist commonly in all areas of wave theory. In particular, Beltrami fields are necessary to analyze electromagnetic wave propagation in isotropic chiral materials, numerous examples of which are found in organic chemistry. Artificial chiral composites are evaluated for electromagnetic engineering purposes as well. In this book a comprehensive analysis of electromagnetic fields in chiral materials has been made.