Theoretical and experimental analysis of the stability of quantizing nanolaminates

Quantizing nanolaminates are an optical metamaterial that has been a prominent research topic in the community of thin film technology for several years. In previous works, the calculations for the theoretical description of the electronic properties were limited to a single quantum well with finite barriers, whereby interactions of several quantum wells or deviations of the potential form could not be taken into account. This paper presents a new theoretical foundation based on the matrix solution of the discretized Schrödinger equation, which allows the calculation of structures with up to 500 quantum wells and arbitrary potential shapes. Based on this model, the influence of the barrier thickness and the number of potential wells on the absorption edge of this metamaterial is analyzed. Furthermore, the influence of layer thickness errors is discussed and compared to experimental data. In addition, a study on the wavelength-dependent absorption as a function of the interfaces is presented. Lastly, future applications and further developments in coating technology for the efficient production of high-quality quantizing nanolaminate coatings are discussed.