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UBC Theses and Dissertations

Multiscale computational visualization and modelling of optical nanomaterials and their application Loi, Wei Sen

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to explore the integration of light simulation techniques from computational nanophotonics, computer graphics, and daylighting to model the visual appearance and optical behavior of nanoengineered structures in real-world settings. This thesis is inspired by the desire to produce high-fidelity predictions of the optical properties of nanostructured materials across multiple size scales, invoking both wave optics and geometric optics where appropriate. Bridging different descriptions of light behavior requires careful consideration of scaling strategies, synergizing computation techniques from different research areas, and finding a right balance between computational efficiency and accuracy. First, an efficient multi-scale computation visualization approach is developed by combining electrodynamic simulations with physically-based rendering to produce photorealistic predictions of the appearance of thin metallic films and multilayers. Next, this computation approach is extended by augmenting its wavelength and spectral resolution in order to accurately describe the iridescence of patterned plasmonic nanostructures. One of the interesting aspects of this work is that has enabled, for the first time, exploration of the influence of both microscopic and nanoscopic roughness on the visual appearance of nanostructured media. Finally, the elements of the aforementioned multi-scale computation approach are integrated with climate-based daylight modeling to investigate the daylighting and glare control performance of window coatings and daylight redirecting structures consisting of semi-transparent thin metallic films. This thesis presents a robust computational strategy to enable modelling of the visual appearance and optical properties of nanostructured materials under application-specific settings. The modelling introduced by this work believes might accelerate the development and deployment cycles of nanomaterials in real-world applications.

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