Dielectric Metasurface-Based High-Efficiency Mid-Infrared Optical Filter

Millimeter-scale ultrathin suspended metasurface integrated high-finesse optomechanical cavity

A typical optomechanical system is a cavity with one movable mirror and one fixed mirror. However, this configuration has been considered incapable of integrating sensitive mechanical elements while maintaining high cavity finesse. Although the membrane-in-the-middle solution seems to be able to overcome this contradiction, it introduces additional components that will lead to unexpected insertion loss, resulting in reduced cavity quality. Here we propose a Fabry-Perot optomechanical cavity composed of an ultrathin suspended Si₃N₄ metasurface and a fixed Bragg grating mirror, with a measured finesse up to 1100. Transmission loss of this cavity is very low as the reflectivity of this suspended metasurface tends to unity around 1550 nm. Meanwhile, the metasurface has a millimeter-scale transverse dimension and a thickness of only 110 nm, which guarantees a sensitive mechanical response and low cavity diffraction loss. Our metasurface-based high-finesse optomechanical cavity has a compact structure, which facilitates the development of quantum and integrated optomechanical devices.

Dual-Channel Mid-Infrared Toroidal Metasurfaces for Wavefront Modulation and Imaging Applications

In this paper, we propose a dual-channel mid-infrared toroidal metasurface that consists of split equilateral triangular rings. The electromagnetic responses are analyzed by the finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method and temporal coupled-mode theory (TCMT). The results show that one channel of the metasurface is insensitive to the polarization angle of the incident light and temperature, while the other channel is sensitive. The reflectance and resonance wavelength can be manipulated by the polarization angle and temperature independently. Based on such a mechanism, we propose metasurfaces for two-bit programmable imaging and thermal imaging. The metasurfaces are believed to have potential applications in information processing and thermal radiation manipulation.

Tunable Thermal Camouflage Based on GST Plasmonic Metamaterial

Thermal radiation control has attracted increasing attention in a wide range of field, including infrared detection, radiative cooling, thermal management, and thermal camouflage. Previously reported thermal emitters for thermal camouflage presented disadvantages of lacking either tunability or thermal stability. In this paper, we propose a tunable thermal emitter consisting of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) plasmonic metamaterial based on phase-change material Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) to realize tunable control of thermal radiation in wavelength ranges from 3 μm to 14 μm. Meanwhile, the proposed thermal emitter possesses near unity emissivity at the wavelength of 6.3 μm to increase radiation heat dissipation, maintaining the thermal stability of the system. The underlying mechanism relies on fundamental magnetic resonance and the interaction between the high-order magnetic resonance and anti-reflection resonance. When the environmental background is blackbody, the tunable emitter maintains signal reduction rates greater than 80% in middle-IR and longer-IR regions from 450 K to 800 K and from room temperature to 800 K, respectively. The dependences of thermal camouflage on crystallization fraction of GST, incident angles and polarization angles have been investigated in detail. In addition, the thermal emitter can continuously realize thermal camouflage for various background temperatures and environmental background in atmospheric window in the range of 3–5 μm.

Plasmonic color filter based on a hetero-metal-insulator-metal grating

Plasmonic color filters are expected to be candidates for application to complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor arrays with reduced pixel size, owing to the subwavelength mode volume of plasmons. Designs of metallic gratings based on the guided-mode resonance effect suffer from the sideband transmission issue due to high-order diffraction. Here, we propose a plasmonic color filter structure based on a hetero-metal-insulator-metal grating. The guided mode, in resonance with the second-order diffraction, is highly attenuated by the forbidden band, such that the sideband transmission can be suppressed. As calculated by using the transfer matrix method and the finite-difference time-domain method, the Al-ZnO-Ag waveguide-based structure presents a color filter characteristic with the peak transmittance greater than 70% and the peak wavelength tunable in the visible light band. It may find application in displays, image sensors, and biomedical imaging technologies.

Collective Lattice Resonances in All-Dielectric Nanostructures under Oblique Incidence

Collective lattice resonances (CLRs) emerging under oblique incidence in 2D finite-size arrays of Si nanospheres have been studied with the coupled dipole model. We show that hybridization between the Mie resonances localized on a single nanoparticle and angle-dependent grating Wood–Rayleigh anomalies allows for the efficient tuning of CLRs across the visible spectrum. Complex nature of CLRs in arrays of dielectric particles with both electric dipole (ED) and magnetic dipole (MD) resonances paves a way for a selective and flexible tuning of either ED or MD CLR by an appropriate variation of the angle of incidence. The importance of the finite-size effects, which are especially pronounced for CLRs emerging for high diffraction orders under an oblique incidence has been also discussed.

Engineering novel tunable optical high-Q nanoparticle array filters for a wide range of wavelengths

The interaction of non-monochromatic radiation with arrays comprising plasmonic and dielectric nanoparticles has been studied using the finite-difference time-domain electrodynamics method. It is shown that LiNbO₃, TiO₂, GaAs, Si, and Ge all-dielectric nanoparticle arrays can provide a complete selective reflection of an incident plane wave within a narrow spectral line of collective lattice resonance with a Q-factor of 10³ or larger at various spectral ranges, while plasmonic refractory TiN and chemically stable Au nanoparticle arrays provide high-Q resonances with moderate reflectivity. Arrays with fixed dimensional parameters make it possible to fine-tune the position of a selected resonant spectral line by tilting the array relative to the direction of the incident radiation. These effects provide grounds for engineering novel selective tunable optical high-Q filters in a wide range of wavelengths, from visible to middle-IR.

High-Efficiency and Broadband Near-Infrared Bi-Functional Metasurface Based on Rotary Different-Size Silicon Nanobricks

Several novel spin-dependent bi-functional metasurfaces consisting of different-sized rotary silicon nanobricks have been proposed and numerically investigated based on the Pancharatnam-Berry phase and structural phase simultaneously. Here, a transmission mechanism is strictly deduced, which can avoid crosstalk from the multiplexed bi-functional metasurface. Four kinds of high-efficiency bi-functional devices have been designed successfully at infrared wavelengths, including a spin-dependent bi-functional beam deflector, a spin-dependent bi-functional metalens, a bi-functional metasurface with spin-dependent focusing and deflection function, and a spin-dependent bi-functional vortex phase plate. All of the results demonstrate the superior performances of our designed devices. Our work opens up new doors toward building novel spin-dependent bi-functional metasurfaces, and promotes the development of bi-functional devices and spin-controlled photonics.

Visible-broadband Localized Vector Vortex Beam Generator with a Multi-structure-composited Meta-surface

We demonstrate a vortex beam generator meta-surface that consists of silver structures and graphene layers. The miniature material is just a few microns in size and the working part is only a few hundred nanometers thick. With the incidence of the linearly polarized beam, the meta-surface generates high-localized vector vortex beam with a high proportion of the longitudinal component. Being compared with the constituent part of the meta-surface, the multi-structure-combined meta-surface increases the localization by 250% and the longitudinal component proportion by 200%. Moreover, the above artificial material can generate vortex beams in broadband within the visible light range. These novel optical properties have the potential to improve the precision and sensitivity of nanoparticle manipulation. The study serves as a foundation in optical miniaturization and integration, nanoparticle manipulation, high-efficiency optical and quantum communication, and light-driven micro-tools.