Electrically driven optical metamaterials

The advent of metamaterials more than 15 years ago has offered extraordinary new ways of manipulating electromagnetic waves. Yet, progress in this field has been unequal across the electromagnetic spectrum, especially when it comes to finding applications for such artificial media. Optical metamaterials, in particular, are less compatible with active functionalities than their counterparts developed at lower frequencies. One crucial roadblock in the path to devices is the fact that active optical metamaterials are so far controlled by light rather than electricity, preventing them from being integrated in larger electronic systems. Here we introduce electroluminescent metamaterials based on metal nano-inclusions hybridized with colloidal quantum dots. We show that each of these miniature blocks can be individually tuned to exhibit independent optoelectronic properties (both in terms of electrical characteristics, polarization, colour and brightness), illustrate their capabilities by weaving complex light-emitting surfaces and finally discuss their potential for displays and sensors.