Prof. Shlomi Arnon

We calculated the optical contrast of silver nanospheres embedded in a lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) film in relation to various volumetric concentrations (<5%) of the nanospheres using Mie theory to approximate the extinction spectra, after assuming PZT to be isotropic. Then, we determined the nanosphere radius for large shifts in extinction efficiency that yields high contrast (as high as 12.74 dB), this radius was 7.4 nm. A device based on this nanocomposite film will be able to modulate light in the visible spectrum with sharp contrast between its 'on' and 'off' state at high speed and with low power consumption.