Cylinder light concentrator and absorber: theoretical description

We present a detailed theoretical description of a broadband omnidirectional light concentrator and absorber with cylinder geometry. The proposed optical trap captures nearly all the incident light within its geometric cross-section, leading to a broad range of possible applications from solar energy harvesting to thermal light emitters and optoelectronic components. We have demonstrated that an approximate lamellar black-hole with a moderate number of homogeneous layers, while giving the desired ray-optical performance, can provide absorption efficiencies comparable to those of ideal devices with a smooth gradient in index. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America