Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dimitrios Papas, Jun-Yu Ou, Eric Plum, Nikolay I. Zheludev
Summary: Metastable optically controlled devices (optical flip-flops) are important in various applications. However, the weak optical nonlinearities have hindered the development of low-power bistable devices. This work introduces a new type of volatile optical bistability in a hybrid nano-optomechanical device, which can be switched between bistable optical states with microwatts of optical power and its volatile memory can be erased by removing the acoustic signal.
Article
Optics
Lukas Ohnoutek, Hyeon-Ho Jeong, Robin Raffe Jones, Johannes Sachs, Ben J. Olohan, Dora-Maria Rasadean, Gheorghe Dan Pantos, David L. Andrews, Peer Fischer, Ventsislav K. Valev
Summary: This study reveals the hidden third-harmonic optical properties upon CPL illumination, referred to as THRS OA, by demonstrating a new effect in hyper-Rayleigh scattering, where the intensity depends on the chirality of the scatterers.
LASER & PHOTONICS REVIEWS
(2021)
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Dong Zhao, Zhelin Lin, Wenqi Zhu, Henri J. Lezec, Ting Xu, Amit Agrawal, Cheng Zhang, Kun Huang
Summary: Nanophotonic devices, made of metals, dielectrics, or semiconductors, offer precise manipulation of electromagnetic waves at subwavelength scales. They are revolutionizing optical devices across the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectra with their compact size, versatile functionality, and exceptional performance. In the ultraviolet spectral region, advances in nanophotonic elements like plasmonic devices, optical metamaterials, and optical metasurfaces are providing new opportunities for imaging, sensing, and spectroscopy applications, while also presenting challenges for future development.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Nathalie Destouches, Nipun Sharma, Marie Vangheluwe, Nicolas Dalloz, Francis Vocanson, Matthieu Bugnet, Mathieu Hebert, Jan Siegel
Summary: The technique of laser processing of nanocomposites allows for controlling the statistical properties of random metasurfaces, enabling multiplexing of multiple images. By manipulating absorption and interference effects, as well as the anisotropy of plasmonic nanoparticles, colors in reflection and transmission can be altered independently under white light, facilitating multiplexing of multiple images.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Peng Mao, Changxu Liu, Yubiao Niu, Yuyuan Qin, Fengqi Song, Min Han, Richard E. Palmer, Stefan A. Maier, Shuang Zhang
Summary: Materials exhibit diverse responses to incident light based on their unique dielectric functions, with the optical response in nanotechnology being influenced by both material properties and geometric structures. The advancement of nanotechnology has led to significant progress in optical structures with feature sizes smaller than the optical wavelength, resulting in flourishing developments in plasmonics and photonic crystals. A counterintuitive system consisting of plasmonic nanostructures composed of different materials but exhibiting almost identical reflection has been proposed, highlighting the insensitivity of the optical response to different plasmonic materials.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jialong Peng, Hyeon-Ho Jeong, Michael Smith, Rohit Chikkaraddy, Qianqi Lin, Hsin-Ling Liang, Michael F. L. De Volder, Silvia Vignolini, Sohini Kar-Narayan, Jeremy J. Baumberg
Summary: This study introduces flexible active plasmonic metafilms constructed by printing electrochromic nanoparticles onto ultrathin metal films (<15 nm), providing low-power electrically driven color switching, and opening up potential for fully printed electrochromic devices. Differences in plasmonic mode excitation between nanoparticles and ultrathin metal films result in directional optical effects and dynamics where perceived upward and downward colorations can differ.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Micheal McLamb, Yanzeng Li, Paige Stinson, Tino Hofmann
Summary: The study presents a cost-effective and rapid prototyping method for metasurfaces composed of rectangular Au bars, fabricated using a simple three-step process. This approach establishes a simple method for producing high fidelity 2D patterns suitable for chemical sensing, beam steering, and perfect reflection/transmission applications. Comprehensive polarization-sensitive reflection data revealed multiple resonances in the infrared spectral range, including a coupling resonance between the metasurface excitation and substrate phonon mode.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xiu Yang, Yong Liu, Fei-Liang Chen, Qian-Qi Lin, Rohit Chikkaraddy, Shan-Shan Huang, Shi-Lin Xian, Yi-Dong Hou, Jing-Lei Du, Liang-Ping Xia, Chun-Lei Du
Summary: This research introduces a stepwise colloidal lithography technique for the fabrication of scalable and complex chiral metamaterials (CMs). The use of multiple-step depositions expands the range of chiral patterns, and a flexible chiral device based on PDMS is designed with good performance and stability.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Liam Collard, Filippo Pisano, Di Zheng, Antonio Balena, Muhammad Fayyaz Kashif, Marco Pisanello, Antonella D'Orazio, Liset M. de la Prida, Cristian Ciraci, Marco Grande, Massimo De Vittorio, Ferruccio Pisanello
Summary: This paper discusses the integration of plasmonic structures on optical fibers and its potential applications. The turbidity of light propagation in multimode fibers hinders dynamic control of the coupling between guided light fields and plasmonic resonances. Utilizing the information of guided modes, the authors demonstrate the spatiotemporal control of plasmonic resonances by employing dynamic phase modulation.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sihai Luo, Bard H. Hoff, Stefan A. Maier, John C. de Mello
Summary: This study evaluates some of the most promising techniques for nanogap fabrication, including traditional methods like photolithography, electron-beam lithography, and focused ion beam milling, as well as newer methods using novel electrochemical and mechanical means for patterning. The physical principles behind each method are reviewed, and their strengths and limitations for nanogap patterning are discussed in terms of resolution, fidelity, speed, ease of implementation, versatility, and scalability to large substrate sizes.
Review
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Zoran Jaksic, Marko Obradov, Olga Jaksic
Summary: Nanomembranes, as the most widespread building block of life, have attracted considerable attention in the field of nanophotonics. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art of nanomembranes in nano-optics, including photonic crystals, plasmonics, metasurfaces, and nanoantennas. The unique properties of nanomembranes, which surpass those of biological membranes, offer promising opportunities for the development of novel functionalities and advancements in these important fields.
Review
Optics
Leonid Yu. Beliaev, Osamu Takayama, Pavel N. Melentiev, Andrei V. Lavrinenko
Summary: Photoluminescence, including fluorescence, is crucial in various applications from biomedical sensing to optoelectronics. Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) are highly anisotropic materials that enhance photoluminescence naturally in dye molecules, quantum dots, diamond nitrogen-vacancy centers, perovskites, and transition metal dichalcogenides.
OPTO-ELECTRONIC ADVANCES
(2021)
Review
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Davide Piccinotti, Kevin F. MacDonald, Simon Gregory, Ian Youngs, Nikolay Zheludev
Summary: The review discusses the application of artificial intelligence in photonics, nanophotonics, plasmonics, and photonic materials discovery, including metamaterials, and addresses future opportunities in these fields.
REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hidemasa Negoro, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Minoru Fujii
Summary: A colloidal suspension of photonic nanostructures with optical magnetism, called an optical metafluid, consists of high-refractive index dielectric nanospheres with magnetic-type Mie resonances in the optical frequency. Under the Kerker conditions, these nanospheres satisfy the electromagnetic duality symmetry condition and preserve the handedness of circularly polarized light. The helicity-preserving metafluid with these nanospheres enhances the local chiral fields and improves the sensitivity of chiral molecular sensing. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate that a solution of crystalline silicon nanospheres can exhibit both dual and anti-dual behaviors.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Yiyuan Wang, Ying Zhang, Menghui Fan, Jing Zhang, Chaobiao Zhou
Summary: A polarization independent broadband and wide-angle metamaterials solar absorber consisting of VO2 periodic arrays and alternately stacked SiO2/W layers is designed in this work. Numerical studies are conducted to explore the absorption of solar radiation and proper geometric parameters of the proposed structure. The designed structure achieves an absorption above 90% in the spectra range of 300-2000 nm, with an average absorption of 95%. It also exhibits excellent solar absorptivity and insensitivity to the incident angle and polarization of sunlight, making it potentially valuable in various applications such as thermophotovoltaic conversion, thermal emitters, and solar cells.
