Amaolo Alessio, Chao Pengning, Maldonado Thomas J, Molesky Sean, Rodriguez Alejandro W
Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Nanophotonics. 2024 Jan 25;13(3):283-288. doi: 10.1515/nanoph-2023-0606. eCollection 2024 Feb.
Recent advances in photonic optimization have enabled calculation of performance bounds for a wide range of electromagnetic objectives, albeit restricted to single-material systems. Motivated by growing theoretical interest and fabrication advances, we present a framework to bound the performance of photonic heterostructures and apply it to investigate maximum absorption characteristics of multilayer films and compact, free-form multi-material scatterers. Limits predict trends seen in topology-optimized geometries - often coming within factors of two of specific designs - and may be utilized in conjunction with inverse designs to predict when heterostructures are expected to outperform their optimal single-material counterparts.
