Ou, Jun-Yu, Plum, Eric, Zhang, Jianfa and Zheludev, Nikolay I. (2013) An electromechanically reconfigurable plasmonic metamaterial operating in the near-infrared. Nature Nanotechnology, 8 (4), 252-255. (doi:10.1038/NNANO.2013.25).
Abstract
Current efforts in metamaterials research focus on dynamic functionalities such as tunability, switching and modulation of electromagnetic waves. To this end, various approaches have appeared, including embedded varactors, phase-change media, use of liquid crystals, electrical modulation with graphene and superconductors, and carrier injection or depletion in semiconductor substrates. However, tuning, switching and modulating metamaterial properties in the visible and near-infrared range remain major technological challenges: the existing microelectromechanical solutions for the subTHz and THz regimes cannot be shrunk by 2-3 orders of magnitude to enter the optical spectral range. Here we develop a new type of metamaterial operating in the optical part of the spectrum which is 3 orders of magnitude faster than previously reported electrically reconfigurable metamaterials. The metamaterial is actuated by electrostatic forces arising from the application of only a few volts to its nanoscale building blocks, the plasmonic metamolecules, which are supported by pairs of parallel strings cut from a nanoscale thickness flexible silicon nitride membrane. These strings of picogram mass can be synchronously driven to megahertz frequencies to electromechanically reconfigure the metamolecules and dramatically change the metamaterial’s transmission and reflection spectra. The metamaterial’s colossal electro-optical response allows for both fast continuous tuning of its optical properties (up to 8% optical signal modulation at up to megahertz rates) and high-contrast irreversible switching in a device of only 100 nm thickness without the need for external polarizers and analyzers.
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