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Stratified Medium
In the physical sciences, a multilayer or stratified medium is a stack of different thin films. Typically, a multilayer is man made for a specific purpose. Since layers are thin with respect to some relevant length scale, interface effects are much more important than in bulk materials, giving rise to novel physical properties. The term "multilayer" is ''not'' an extension of "monolayer" and "bilayer", which describe a ''single'' layer that is one or two molecules thick. A multilayer medium rather consists of several thin films. Examples An optical coating, as used for instance in a dielectric mirror, is made of several layers that have different refractive indexes. Giant magnetoresistance is a macroscopic quantum effect observed in alternating ferromagnetic and non-magnetic conductive layers. See also * Transfer-matrix method (optics) * Dielectric mirror A dielectric mirror, also known as a Bragg mirror, is a type of mirror composed of multiple thin layers of dielectr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thin Film
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many applications. A familiar example is the household mirror, which typically has a thin metal coating on the back of a sheet of glass to form a reflective interface. The process of silvering was once commonly used to produce mirrors, while more recently the metal layer is deposited using techniques such as sputtering. Advances in thin film deposition techniques during the 20th century have enabled a wide range of technological breakthroughs in areas such as magnetic recording media, electronic semiconductor devices, integrated passive devices, LEDs, optical coatings (such as antireflective coatings), hard coatings on cutting tools, and for both energy generation (e.g. thin-film solar cells) and storage ( thin-film batteries). It is also being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interface (matter)
In the physical sciences, an interface is the boundary between two spatial regions occupied by different matter, or by matter in different physical states. The interface between matter and air, or matter and vacuum, is called a surface, and studied in surface science. In thermal equilibrium, the regions in contact are called phases, and the interface is called a phase boundary. An example for an interface out of equilibrium is the grain boundary in polycrystalline matter. The importance of the interface depends on the type of system: the bigger the quotient area/volume, the greater the effect the interface will have. Consequently, interfaces are very important in systems with large interface area-to-volume ratios, such as colloids. Interfaces can be flat or curved. For example, oil droplets in a salad dressing are spherical but the interface between water and air in a glass of water is mostly flat. Surface tension is the physical property which rules interface processes involvin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monolayer
A monolayer is a single, closely packed layer of atoms, molecules, or cells. In some cases it is referred to as a self-assembled monolayer. Monolayers of layered crystals like graphene and molybdenum disulfide are generally called 2D materials. Chemistry A Langmuir monolayer or insoluble monolayer is a one-molecule thick layer of an insoluble organic material spread onto an aqueous subphase in a Langmuir-Blodgett trough. Traditional compounds used to prepare Langmuir monolayers are amphiphilic materials that possess a hydrophilic headgroup and a hydrophobic tail. Since the 1980s a large number of other materials have been employed to produce Langmuir monolayers, some of which are semi-amphiphilic, including polymeric, ceramic or metallic nanoparticles and macromolecules such as polymers. Langmuir monolayers are extensively studied for the fabrication of Langmuir-Blodgett film (LB films), which are formed by transferred monolayers on a solid substrate. A Gibbs monolayer or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilayer
A bilayer is a double layer of closely packed atoms or molecules. The properties of bilayers are often studied in condensed matter physics, particularly in the context of semiconductor devices, where two distinct materials are united to form junctions (such as p–n junctions, Schottky junctions, etc.). Layered materials, such as graphene, boron nitride, or transition metal dichalchogenides, have unique electronic properties as a bilayer system and are an active area of current research. In biology a common example is the Lipid bilayer, which describes the structure of multiple organic structures, such as the membrane of a cell. See also * Monolayer * Non-carbon nanotube A non-carbon nanotube is a cylindrical molecule often composed of metal oxides, or group III-Nitrides and morphologically similar to a carbon nanotube. Non-carbon nanotubes have been observed to occur naturally in some mineral deposits. A few year ... * Semiconductor * Thin film References Phases of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optical Coating
An optical coating is one or more thin layers of material deposited on an optical component such as a lens, prism or mirror, which alters the way in which the optic reflects and transmits light. These coatings have become a key technology in the field of optics. One type of optical coating is an anti-reflective coating, which reduces unwanted reflections from surfaces, and is commonly used on spectacle and camera lenses. Another type is the high-reflector coating, which can be used to produce mirrors that reflect greater than 99.99% of the light that falls on them. More complex optical coatings exhibit high reflection over some range of wavelengths, and anti-reflection over another range, allowing the production of dichroic thin-film filters. Types of coating The simplest optical coatings are thin layers of metals, such as aluminium, which are deposited on glass substrates to make mirror surfaces, a process known as silvering. The metal used determines the reflection charac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dielectric Mirror
A dielectric mirror, also known as a Bragg mirror, is a type of mirror composed of multiple thin layers of dielectric material, typically deposited on a substrate of glass or some other optical material. By careful choice of the type and thickness of the dielectric layers, one can design an optical coating with specified reflectivity at different wavelengths of light. Dielectric mirrors are also used to produce ultra-high reflectivity mirrors: values of 99.999% or better over a narrow range of wavelengths can be produced using special techniques. Alternatively, they can be made to reflect a broad spectrum of light, such as the entire visible range or the spectrum of the Ti-sapphire laser. Mirrors of this type are very common in optics experiments, due to improved techniques that allow inexpensive manufacture of high-quality mirrors. Examples of their applications include laser cavity end mirrors, hot and cold mirrors, thin-film beamsplitters, high damage threshold mirrors, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refractive Index
In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or refracted, when entering a material. This is described by Snell's law of refraction, , where ''θ''1 and ''θ''2 are the angle of incidence and angle of refraction, respectively, of a ray crossing the interface between two media with refractive indices ''n''1 and ''n''2. The refractive indices also determine the amount of light that is reflected when reaching the interface, as well as the critical angle for total internal reflection, their intensity ( Fresnel's equations) and Brewster's angle. The refractive index can be seen as the factor by which the speed and the wavelength of the radiation are reduced with respect to their vacuum values: the speed of light in a medium is , and similarly the wavelength in that medium is , where ''Π... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Magnetoresistance
Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) is a quantum mechanical magnetoresistance effect observed in multilayers composed of alternating ferromagnetic and non-magnetic conductive layers. The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg for the discovery of GMR. The effect is observed as a significant change in the electrical resistance depending on whether the magnetization of adjacent ferromagnetic layers are in a parallel or an antiparallel alignment. The overall resistance is relatively low for parallel alignment and relatively high for antiparallel alignment. The magnetization direction can be controlled, for example, by applying an external magnetic field. The effect is based on the dependence of electron scattering on spin orientation. The main application of GMR is in magnetic field sensors, which are used to read data in hard disk drives, biosensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and other devices. GMR multilayer structures are also used in m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transfer-matrix Method (optics)
The transfer-matrix method is a method used in optics and acoustics to analyze the propagation of electromagnetic or acoustic waves through a stratified medium. This is for example relevant for the design of anti-reflective coatings and dielectric mirrors. The reflection of light from a single interface between two media is described by the Fresnel equations. However, when there are multiple interfaces, such as in the figure, the reflections themselves are also partially transmitted and then partially reflected. Depending on the exact path length, these reflections can interfere destructively or constructively. The overall reflection of a layer structure is the sum of an infinite number of reflections. The transfer-matrix method is based on the fact that, according to Maxwell's equations, there are simple continuity conditions for the electric field across boundaries from one medium to the next. If the field is known at the beginning of a layer, the field at the end of the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dielectric Mirror
A dielectric mirror, also known as a Bragg mirror, is a type of mirror composed of multiple thin layers of dielectric material, typically deposited on a substrate of glass or some other optical material. By careful choice of the type and thickness of the dielectric layers, one can design an optical coating with specified reflectivity at different wavelengths of light. Dielectric mirrors are also used to produce ultra-high reflectivity mirrors: values of 99.999% or better over a narrow range of wavelengths can be produced using special techniques. Alternatively, they can be made to reflect a broad spectrum of light, such as the entire visible range or the spectrum of the Ti-sapphire laser. Mirrors of this type are very common in optics experiments, due to improved techniques that allow inexpensive manufacture of high-quality mirrors. Examples of their applications include laser cavity end mirrors, hot and cold mirrors, thin-film beamsplitters, high damage threshold mirrors, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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