skip to main content


Title: Dynamically tunable and active hyperbolic metamaterials
The first generation of hyperbolic metamaterials, metasurfaces, and naturally hyperbolic materials (HMMs) utilized the static and passive properties of their constituent metallic and dielectric components to achieve intriguing macroscopic behavior, such as imaging and focusing of light below the diffraction limit and the broadband modification to the rate of spontaneous emission. While promising, and operating from RF frequencies to the ultraviolet, many potential applications of early HMMs were spoiled by inflexible operation and dissipation losses. Recently, the use of dynamically tunable and active constituent materials has increased, guiding HMMs into more functional regimes. In this review we survey the state-of-the-art of tunable and active electromagnetic HMMs. Based on a firm theoretical foundation, we review the most recent experimental work on hyperbolic dispersion endowed with a tunable or active character. Additionally, we review proposed ideas that may inspire new experimental work and offer a comparison to other photonic platforms.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1707641
NSF-PAR ID:
10093695
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Advances in optics and photonics
Volume:
10
Issue:
2
ISSN:
1943-8206
Page Range / eLocation ID:
354-408
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Metamaterials present great potential in the applications of solar cells and nanophotonics, such as super lenses and other meta devices, owing to their superior optical properties. In particular, hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) with exceptional optical anisotropy offer improved manipulation of light–matter interactions as well as a divergence in the density of states and thus show enhanced performances in related fields. Recently, the emerging field of oxide–metal vertically aligned nanocomposites (VANs) suggests a new approach to realize HMMs with flexible microstructural modulations. In this work, a new oxide–metal metamaterial system, CeO 2 –Au, has been demonstrated with variable Au phase morphologies from nanoparticle-in-matrix (PIM), nanoantenna-in-matrix, to VAN. The effective morphology tuning through deposition background pressure, and the corresponding highly tunable optical performance of three distinctive morphologies, were systematically explored and analyzed. A hyperbolic dispersion at high wavelength has been confirmed in the nano-antenna CeO 2 –Au thin film, proving this system as a promising candidate for HMM applications. More interestingly, a new and abnormal in-plane epitaxy of Au nanopillars following the large mismatched CeO 2 matrix instead of the well-matched SrTiO 3 substrate, was discovered. Additionally, the tilting angle of Au nanopillars, α , has been found to be a quantitative measure of the balance between kinetics and thermodynamics during the depositions of VANs. All these findings provide valuable information in the understanding of the VAN formation mechanisms and related morphology tuning. 
    more » « less
  2. Graphene is a promising materials platform for metasurface flat optics at terahertz wavelengths, with the important advantage of active tunability. Here we review recent work aimed at the development of tunable graphene metasurfaces for THz wavefront shaping (including beam-steering metamirrors and metalenses) and light emission. Various design strategies for the constituent meta-units are presented, ranging from metallic phase-shifting elements combined with a nearby graphene sheet for active tuning to graphene plasmonic resonators providing the required phase control or radiation mechanism. The key challenge in the development of these devices, related to the limited radiative coupling of graphene plasmonic excitations, is discussed in detail together with recently proposed solutions. The resulting metasurface technology can be expected to have a far-reaching impact on a wide range of device applications for THz imaging, sensing, and future wireless communications.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMM) possess significant anisotropic physical properties and tunability and thus find many applications in integrated photonic devices. HMMs consisting of metal and dielectric phases in either multilayer or vertically aligned nanocomposites (VAN) form are demonstrated with different hyperbolic properties. Herein, self‐assembled HfO2‐Au/TiN‐Au multilayer thin films, combining both the multilayer and VAN designs, are demonstrated. Specifically, Au nanopillars embedded in HfO2and TiN layers forming the alternative layers of HfO2‐Au VAN and TiN‐Au VAN. The HfO2and TiN layer thickness is carefully controlled by varying laser pulses during pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Interestingly, tunable anisotropic physical properties can be achieved by adjusting the bi‐layer thickness and the number of the bi‐layers. Type II optical hyperbolic dispersion can be obtained from high layer thickness structure (e.g., 20 nm), while it can be transformed into Type I optical hyperbolic dispersion by reducing the thickness to a proper value (e.g., 4 nm). This new nanoscale hybrid metamaterial structure with the three‐phase VAN design shows great potential for tailorable optical components in future integrated devices.

     
    more » « less
  4. Layered semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) are composite materials composed of alternating subwavelength-doped (metal) and undoped (dielectric) semiconductor layers. These materials support the propagation of light with large wave vectors through modes called volume plasmon polaritons (VPPs). In this paper, we use finite-element modeling and effective medium analysis (EMA) to investigate how the number of periods, the period thickness, and the overall HMM thickness affect the VPP mode-resonant wavelengths. We show that the overall HMM thickness has a larger impact on shifting the resonant wavelengths of the VPP modes than the subwavelength structure. We also show that the main limitation of EMA for this application is an inability to account for the boundary conditions at the substrate.

     
    more » « less
  5. We report the theoretical prediction and experimental realization of the optical phenomenon of “ballistic resonance.” This resonance, resulting from the interplay between free charge motion in confining geometries and periodic driving electromagnetic fields, can be utilized to achieve negative permittivity at frequencies well above the bulk plasma frequency. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate all-semiconductor hyperbolic metamaterials operating at frequencies 60% above the plasma frequency of the constituent doped semiconductor “metallic” layer. Ballistic resonance will therefore enable the realization and deployment of various applications that rely on local field enhancement and emission modulation, typically associated with plasmonic materials, in new materials platforms.

     
    more » « less