A simple trilayer metamaterial absorber suitable for large area fabrication associated with a Fano-like resonance is numerically investigated and presented at infrared frequencies. The finite-element method-based COMSOL Multiphysics is used for numerical simulations and to understand the mechanism of absorption in the system. The absorber consists of photoresist disk arrays on a silicon substrate followed by a consecutive trilayer of gold, ZnS, and gold. The absorption is caused by the simultaneous excitation of the cavity and guided-mode resonances in the structures, whereas the Fano-like resonance arises due to the interference of these two modes. The coupled mode theory is used to describe the Fano-like resonance in the system. The design can easily be implemented for large area fabrications as it separates the structuring and deposition processes and makes them sequential, and avoids expensive and complex lift-off or etching processes. The spectral position of the resonance can be tuned by just controlling the thickness of the trilayer instead of the structural size and shape modification of the micro/nanostructures as is usually done in conventional metamaterial absorbers.
Metamaterial band-selective perfect absorbers are attractive for constructing surfaces with specified infrared emissivity. The difficulty in realizing such surfaces arises from the complexity in the manufacturing of multilayered (usually trilayered) and micro or nanostructures with high fidelity over large areas. Here, we develop and experimentally realize a simplified design for large-area metamaterials with specified infrared emissivity by utilizing the resonant excitations in a bilayered microstructure. The design is validated using computational models, and the origin of absorption in the metamaterial structure is identified. The design of the metamaterial allows for a simplification in the fabrication processes, and it is fabricated in sequential steps of fabrication of a master pattern by laser interference lithography, microstructuring on arbitrary surfaces by soft imprint lithography, and vacuum deposition of two layers of thin films. The methods are suitable for fabricating the metamaterial over flexible and extremely rough surfaces also and can be adopted easily for rapid prototyping and roll-to-roll manufacturing.
A theoretical study of a cylindrical anisotropic optical fiber filled inhomogeneously by an anisotropic metamaterial is carried out. Nanoporous alumina microtubes obtained recently by acid anodization techniques are physical manifestations of such optical waveguides. In these microtubes, the nanopores are aligned radially outward and the nanopore diameters vary radially, rendering the system inhomogeneous. By considering the radial variation of the nanopore size, a local permittivity tensor is obtained by a Maxwell-Garnett homogenization theory. The cylindrically anisotropic and inhomogeneously filled fiber is shown to support propagating modes of hybrid polarization character (EH or HE modes). The salient feature of this system is that the modal fields are extremely confined near the center of the waveguide due to the refractive inhomogeneity. The anisotropy plays a relatively minor role in the localization. The easy control over the dielectric anisotropy and the inhomogeneity made possible in the nanoporous alumina fiber makes it an attractive candidate for nanophotonic applications.
We investigated the interaction of a periodically patterned columnar thin film (PP-CTF) of silver with light incident on it from a vacuous half space, as a function of the angle ψ between the plane of incidence and the morphologically significant plane of the PP-CTF. The chosen structure had previously been shown to be capable of showing asymmetric coupling of surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves over a broad bandwidth in the visible regime with incident light when the plane of incidence coincides with the morphologically significant plane of the PP-CTF ( ψ = 0°). We determined experimentally that coupling may be completely symmetric in some spectral regime, when the plane of incidence is orthogonal to the morphologically significant plane of the PP- CTF ( ψ = 90°). Whereas asymmetric coupling occurs with quasilinear dispersion when ψ = 0°, completely symmetric coupling occurs with quasiparabolic dispersion.
Over the past decade, scientists have learned how to manipulate the interaction of radiation with structured materials to an unprecedented level. For decades, our world was limited to materials with primarily positive permittivities and permeabilities, with a few exceptions such as plasmas, for example, whose permittivities can be negative. The research in metamaterials coupled with the rapid advancements in micro- and nanofabrication technologies has removed this limitation and has opened the door to almost arbitrary material properties with some extraordinary consequences across the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from radio frequencies to optical frequencies. These developments have been strongly complemented by the developments in periodic dielectric photonic crystals where band-gap effects lead to mind-blowing dispersion characteristics and consequent effects. Almost simultaneously, the optics of metals has been brought to center-stage where the plasmonic excitations enable the electromagnetic radiation to interact resonantly with the structured material at very small sub-wavelength scales. These interactions prove to be the key to manipulating the optical near-field, and surprising effects such as sub-wavelength scale imaging by so-called super-lenses made of negative refractive index or plasmonic materials have been discovered.
Periodic arrays of subwavelength holes in plasmonic thin films can provide for large broadband transmission in the near-infrared spectrum. The optical transmission properties of these thin films with respect to the film thickness, size, and shape of the holes and the period of the arrays was systematically investigated using finite difference time domain computations. Structured gold and silver films of 20-nm thickness can provide for up to 90% transmittance at near-infrared wavelength, thereby rendering them suitable as transparent conducting electrodes for near-infrared emitters or sensors and photovoltaic applications.
Excimer laser at 248 nm has been used to micromachine holes and channels on stainless steel and polymethyl methacrylate using mask projection methods. The machining is numerically simulated considering the laser beam as a heat source only, thermal diffusion, and melt vaporization. The depth and width of the machined features at different pulse energies and number of pulses are measured by optical profilometry. Both the depth and the aspect ratio (depth-to-width) are found to increase with increasing number of pulses and pulse energies. The depth predicted by the simulations based on the thermal ablation model is closer to the experimental observations for steel as compared with that for the polymer. This allows for the quantification of the contribution of thermal ablation processes in the excimer laser machining of metals and polymers. High-energy pulses are found to have higher ablation efficiency in case of metal and lower ablation efficiency in case of polymer.
Many of the conducting polymers though having good material property are not solution
processable. Hence an alternate method of fabrication of film by pulsed laser deposition, was explored
in this work. PDTCPA, a donor- acceptor- donor type of polymer having absorption from 900 nm to
300 nm was deposited by both UV and IR laser to understand the effect of deposition parameters on the
film quality. It was observed that the laser ablation of PDTCPA doesn’t alter its chemical structure
hence retaining the chemical integrity of the polymer. Microscopic studies of the ablated film shows
that the IR laser ablated films were particulate in nature while UV laser ablated films are deposited as
smooth continuous layer. The morphology of the film influences its electrical characteristics as
current- voltage characteristic of these films shows that films deposited by UV laser are p rectifying
while those by IR laser are more of resistor in nature.
We propose a negative refraction for DPDW in an amplifying random medium, studied for two configurations – semiinfinite and slab, juxtaposed with absorbing ones. The negative phase introduced by the sign of the square root of the wave-vector induces unconventional modes at the interface between the two media.
Surface plasmon-assisted fluorescence and imaging from Rhodamine 6G dye molecules in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) thin films deposited on gold-coated corrugated gratings of various periodicities fabricated by laser interference lithography were investigated. The fluorescence enhancement depends significantly on the periodicity of the corrugated gratings for the green light excitation centered at 548 nm with maximum enhancements at 500 and 1000 nm grating periods. A dielectric PMMA spacer layer placed between the fluorophore layer and the metal surface resulted in a further three-fold enhancement of fluorescence. The period dependent enhancement is caused by the efficient coupling of the excitation radiation to the gold gratings due to the resonant excitation of propagating surface plasmons, which assist the excitation of the fluorophores. Fluorescence imaging shows that the emitted signal is stronger from the top of the corrugated grating surface rather than from that of the valleys. It was ascertained, through surface plasmon resonant dispersion measurements and electromagnetic computations, that enhanced absorption of excitation light through propagating plasmon resonances is the prime contributor to the enhanced fluorescence.
Recently stacked metamaterial structures coupled to a conductive plane have been investigated and have been shown to
exhibit the same properties as stacked structures with double the layers, due to dipole mirror coupling. Here we study a
system of stacked subwavelength metallic grating layers coupled to a metal film and show that this system not only
supports the localized modes of a doubly layered structure, but also, for non-normal incidence, supports modes that
exhibit a clear propagation and in one case a simultaneous localization of the electromagnetic field in the region between
the metal film and the first grating layer. Furthermore we show that this hybridized propagating mode, excited for any N
number of periodic layers, is further influenced as it couples with the highest energy localized mode of the periodic
layered stack. Additionally it is found that the localized modes of the structure can be spectrally positioned in a directly
adjacent manner, resulting in wideband absorption that can effectively be tuned by varying the grating film spacing.
We theoretically demonstrate the possibility of dynamically controlling the response of metamaterials at optical
frequencies using the well known phenomenon of coherent control. Our results predict a variety of effects ranging from
dramatic reduction of losses associated with the resonant response of metamaterials to switchable ultraslow to
superluminal propagation of pulses governed by the magnetic field of the incident wave. These effects, generic to all
metamaterials having a resonant response, involve embedding the metamaterial in resonant dispersive coherent
atomic/molecular media. These effects may be utilized for narrow band switching applications and detectors for radiation
below predetermined cut-off frequencies.
Ever since their first experimental demonstration in 2000, the interest in metamaterials and negative refractive index materials has increased exponentially. This book covers the fundamental physical principles and emerging engineering applications of structured electromagnetic metamaterials that yield a negative refraction as well as other unexpected physical properties. It provides detailed explanations on the history, development, and main achievements of metamaterials.
This book discusses the design, optimization, and testing of structured metamaterials as well as their applications at frequencies ranging from radio wave to optical. It also explores novel concepts and phenomena, such as the perfect lens for super-resolution imaging, hyper lenses that couple the near-field to radiative modes, electromagnetic cloaking and invisibility, and near-field optical imaging.
Copublished by CRC Press
We study the traversal times of electromagnetic pulses across dispersive media with negative dielectric permittivity
(ε) and magnetic permeability (μ) parameters. First we investigate the transport of optical pulses through
an electrical plasma and a negative refractive index medium (NRM) of infinite and semi-infinite extents where
no resonant effects come into play. The total delay time of the pulse constitutes of the group delay time and the
reshaping delay time as analyzed by Peatross et al.1 For evanescent waves, even with broadband width, the total
delay time is negative for an infinite medium whereas it is positive for the semi-infinite case. Evidence of the
Hartman effect is seen for small propagation distance compared to the free space pulse length. The reshaping
delay mostly dominates the total delay time in NRM whereas it vanishes when ε(ω) = μ(ω).
Next we present results on the propagation times through a dispersive slab. While both large bandwidth
and large dissipation have similar effects in smoothening out the resonant features that appear due to Fabry-Perot resonances, large dissipation can result in very small or even negative traversal times near the resonant
frequencies. We investigate the traversal and the Wigner delay times for obliquely incident pulses. The coupling
of evanescent waves to slab plasmon polariton modes results in large traversal times at the resonant conditions.
We also find that the group velocity mainly contributes to the delay time for pulse propagating across a slab
with refractive index (n) = -1. The traversal times are positive and subluminal for pulses with sufficiently large
bandwidths.
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