Ultrafast Coherent Absorption in Diamond Metamaterials

Optical Kerr nonlinearity of dielectric nanohole array metasurface in proximity to anapole state

Metasurfaces have attracted a great deal of attention from researchers due to their prominent optical properties. In particular, metasurfaces may consist of structures possessing optical anapole resonances with strong field confinement and substantially suppressed scattering. As a result, such nanostructures display enhanced nonlinear optical properties. In this paper by means of three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations, the ability of anapole modes in high-index dielectric metasurfaces with circular nanopores is shown. In the vicinity of the anapole state, the effective optical Kerr nonlinearity increases by orders of magnitude. Simultaneously, the optical transmission of the metasurface can reach high values up to unity.

Phenomenon of Electromagnetic Field Resonance in Metal and Dielectric Gratings and Its Possible Practical Applications

Calculations of the field distribution in the structure of the dielectric substrate/buffer layer/volume phase grating/analyzed medium were performed. It is shown that in the presence of a buffer layer with a low refractive index in the dielectric waveguide leads to a shift of the maximum field at the waveguide resonance into analyzed medium. As a result, the spectral and angular sensitivity of the corresponding sensor increases. Based on the waveguide equation, analytical expressions are obtained that connect the spectral and angular sensitivity of the sensor to the sensitivity of the propagation constant change due to the refractive index change of the analyzed medium. The conditions for the excitation of the resonance of surface plasmon–polariton waves in the structure with a metal or dielectric grating on a metal substrate are also given. The fields that occur at resonance for silver and gold gratings are calculated.

Nanosphere Lithography for Structuring Polycrystalline Diamond Films

This paper deals with the structuring of polycrystalline diamond thin films using the technique of nanosphere lithography. The presented multistep approaches relied on a spin-coated self-assembled monolayer of polystyrene spheres, which served as a lithographic mask for the further custom nanofabrication steps. Various arrays of diamond nanostructures—close-packed and non-close-packed monolayers over substrates with various levels of surface roughness, noble metal films over nanosphere arrays, ordered arrays of holes, and unordered pores—were created using reactive ion etching, chemical vapour deposition, metallization, and/or lift-off processes. The size and shape of the lithographic mask was altered using oxygen plasma etching. The periodicity of the final structure was defined by the initial diameter of the spheres. The surface morphology of the samples was characterized using scanning electron microscopy. The advantages and limitations of the fabrication technique are discussed. Finally, the potential applications (e.g., photonics, plasmonics) of the obtained nanostructures are reviewed.

Controllable coherent perfect absorber made of liquid metal-based metasurface

Coherent perfect absorber (CPA) is a novel strategy proposed and demonstrated for solving the challenge to attain efficient control of absorption by exploiting the inverse process of lasing. The operation condition of CPA results in narrow-band, which is the main limitation obstruct it from practical applications. Here, we demonstrate a CPA with tunable operation frequency employing the liquid metal made reconfigurable metasurface. The flow of liquid metal is restricted with a plastic pipe for realizing a controllable liquid metal cut-wire. The adjustable electric dipolar mode of the reconfigurable cur-wire metasurface ensures that the quasi-CPA point can be dynamically controlled; the measured CPA under proper phase modulation is in good agreement with the simulation results. The proposed CPA system involving liquid metal for dynamic control of operation frequency will have potential applications and may stimulate the exploitation of liquid based smart absorption control of optical waves.

Giant Electro-Optical Effect through Electrostriction in a Nanomechanical Metamaterial

Electrostriction is a property of all naturally occurring dielectrics whereby they are mechanically deformed under the application of an electric field. It is demonstrated here that an artificial metamaterial nanostructure comprising arrays of dielectric nanowires, made of silicon and indium tin oxide, is reversibly structurally deformed under the application of an electric field, and that this reconfiguration is accompanied by substantial changes in optical transmission and reflection, thus providing a strong electro-optic effect. Such metamaterials can be used as the functional elements of electro-optic modulators in the visible to near-infrared part of the spectrum. A modulator operating at 1550 nm with effective electrostriction and electro-optic coefficients of order 10^-13 m² V^-2 and 10^-6 m V^-1 , respectively, is demonstrated. Transmission changes of up to 3.5% are obtained with a 500 mV control signal at a modulation frequency of ≈6.5 MHz. With a resonant optical response that can be spectrally tuned by design, modulators based on the artificial electrostrictive effect may be used for laser Q-switching and mode-locking among other applications that require modulation at megahertz frequencies.