Improved light extraction with nano-particles offering directional radiation diagrams

We propose a unique approach for light extraction, using engineered nano-particles to efficiently decouple the light guided in transverse-magnetic guided modes into free-space radiation modes that leak out normally to the thin-film stacks. The underlying mechanism takes advantage of a small electric field variation at the nano-particle scale and induces a polarization conversion, which renders the induced dipole moment perpendicular to the polarization of the incident light. Our analysis is supported by 2D fully vectorial computational results. Potential applications for light emitting or photovoltaic devices are outlined. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.