Harnessing the Nano-optics of Silicon Nanowires for Multispectral Imaging

Given the considerable interest that has existed for silicon nanowires lately, it is surprising how little attention has been generally paid to the dramatic influence that wave- guiding and resonance phenomena can have upon their optical properties. This paper reviews recent work at Harvard Univer- sity on the optical properties of silicon nanowires. We show that they can take a striking variety of colors, and that this enables color and multispectral imaging. Index Terms—Image sensors, infrared imaging, multispec- tral imaging, nanowires, nanofabrication.