Description:
TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors
OBJECTIVE: Develop new ultra-thin devices based on metasurfaces that could enable planar photonics for applications in efficient light modulation, pulse shaping, beam steering, imaging and sensing.
DESCRIPTION: Metamaterials (MMs) are rationally designed artificial materials with versatile properties that can be tailored to fit almost any practical need and thus go beyond what can be obtained with "natural" materials. The proposed metasurfaces are optical MMs with a reduced dimensionality. In contrast to conventional 3D MM designs that often rely on resonance responses and suffer from high loss and challenging fabrication, subwavelength-thick metasurfaces can offer extraordinary properties combined with low-loss, large bandwidth performance as well as fabrication and integration advantages. Moreover, similar to surface science research that in the past revolutionized physics and revealed new phenomena unattainable with 3D systems, moving from bulk MMs to metasurfaces could unlock new physical phenomena and pave the way to truly novel applications. In contrast to the first optical MMs that were only one unit cell thick due to fabrication limitations. One seeks entirely new approaches for designing 2D metasurfaces with unique optical properties. Of interest is developing new methods of designing and investigating effective optical properties of metasurfaces that have been shown to deviate from classical reflection and refraction laws. This direction would allow one to realize various metasurfaces for "flat photonics" that provide extraordinary control of the characteristics of light, including its frequency, phase, momentum, angular momentum, and polarization. The intent is to develop metasurfaces that direct, route and control the flow of light at both the nano- and macroscopic scales and offer new, exciting functionalities. Metasurfaces present an entirely new perspective on light manipulation and create a new paradigm for the science of light. New ultra-thin devices based on metasurfaces could enable important applications ranging from efficient light modulation, pulse shaping, beam steering, imaging and sensing (for example, infrared detection) with the nanometer-scale precision to novel quantum-optics and quantum-computing systems. Opportunities exist for novel low cost nanofabrication approaches.
PHASE I: Design and fabricate novel structures based on metasurfaces that could enable important applications ranging from efficient light modulation, pulse shaping, beam steering, imaging and sensing.
PHASE II: Fabricate ultra-thin devices based on metasurfaces to demonstrate flat optics or planar photonics and address scalable nanomanufacturing of metasurfaces and metasurface based components.
PHASE III: Numerous potential applications exist in which the optical components are made lighter and use less power. Applications could include detection, infrared detection, narrow band laser applications, lidar beam forming, high power laser optics, optical communications components.
REFERENCES:
1: Aieta, F., et. al. "Aberration-Free Ultra thin Flat Lenses and Axicons at Telecom Wavelengths Based on Plasmonic Metasurfaces," dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl302516v, Nano Letters, 2012, 12, 4932-4936.
2: Aieta, F., A. Kats, M. A., Genevet, P., and Capasso, F. Multiwavelengthachromatic metasurfaces by dispersive phase compensation. Science 20 March 2015: 347 (6228), 13421345. Published online 19 February 2015[DOI:10.1126/science.aaa2494].
3: F. Capasso, "Nanophotonics based on Metasurfaces", OSA Technical Digest, pp. SW3I.1, 2015
4: P. R. West, et al., "All-dielectric subwavelength metasurface focusing lens", Optics Express, vol. 22, pp. 26212, 2014
KEYWORDS: Metasurface, Metamaterial, Flat Optics, Flat Lens, Phase-discontinuities, Plasmonics, Nanomanufacturing, Planar Photonics
CONTACT(S):
Gernot Pomrenke
(703) 696-8426
gernot.pomrenke@us.af.mil
