Fig. 1: Numerical simulations of optical transport properties.
a Cross section of a three-dimensional FDTD (MEEP) simulation box containing a hyperuniform silicon (n = 3.6) network structure, thickness L = 6a. A light wave, linearly polarized along the x-axis, is launched on the leftside and propagates along the z-axis. The photonic network structure is terminated with perfectly matched layers (PML) at both sides of the box along the propagation axis. PMLs act as absorbers. The source (SRC) and detector (MON) are placed at a distance approximately ~a from the sample, which is held in vacuum. Periodic boundary conditions are applied along x and y directions. b Triangles: transmittance spectrum T(a/λ) for a slab of thickness L = 18a for a filling fraction ϕ = 0.28. The optical transport data is compared to numerical calculations of the density of states (DOS) (squares). The bandgap-center frequency is \({\nu }_{{\rm{Gap}}}^{\prime}=a/{\lambda }_{{\rm{Gap}}}=0.478\) and the width Δν is indicated by the shaded area. c Three-dimensional rendering of a hyperuniform network structure, edge length 6a and filling fraction ϕ = 0.28. The size of the structure used in the simulation is 18a × 18a × L with L ≤ 18a, which is repeated periodically in (x, y) direction to construct the slab geometry. d In the gap the transmittance decays exponentially and \(\mathrm{ln}\,T\) collapses on a master curve when plotted in reduced units L/LB. LB≤a denotes the Bragg length and it is found to be smallest near the gap-center frequency \({\nu }_{{\rm{Gap}}}^{\prime}=0.478\), see also Supplementary Fig. 1.
