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Reconfigurable nanomechanical photonic metamaterials

Reconfigurable nanomechanical photonic metamaterials
Reconfigurable nanomechanical photonic metamaterials
The changing balance of forces at the nanoscale offers the opportunity to develop a new generation of spatially reconfigurable nanomembrane metamaterials in which electromagnetic Coulomb, Lorentz and Ampère forces, as well as thermal stimulation and optical signals, can be engaged to dynamically change their optical properties. Individual building blocks of such metamaterials, the metamolecules, and their arrays fabricated on elastic dielectric membranes can be reconfigured to achieve optical modulation at high frequencies, potentially reaching the gigahertz range. Mechanical and optical resonances enhance the magnitude of actuation and optical response within these nanostructures, which can be driven by electric signals of only a few volts or optical signals with power of only a few milliwatts. We envisage switchable, electro-optical, magneto-optical and nonlinear metamaterials that are compact and silicon-nanofabrication-technology compatible with functionalities surpassing those of natural media by orders of magnitude in some key design parameters.
1748-3387
16-22
Zheludev, N.I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Plum, E.
50761a26-2982-40df-9153-7aecc4226eb5
Zheludev, N.I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Plum, E.
50761a26-2982-40df-9153-7aecc4226eb5

Zheludev, N.I. and Plum, E. (2016) Reconfigurable nanomechanical photonic metamaterials. Nature Nanotechnology, 11 (1), 16-22. (doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.302).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The changing balance of forces at the nanoscale offers the opportunity to develop a new generation of spatially reconfigurable nanomembrane metamaterials in which electromagnetic Coulomb, Lorentz and Ampère forces, as well as thermal stimulation and optical signals, can be engaged to dynamically change their optical properties. Individual building blocks of such metamaterials, the metamolecules, and their arrays fabricated on elastic dielectric membranes can be reconfigured to achieve optical modulation at high frequencies, potentially reaching the gigahertz range. Mechanical and optical resonances enhance the magnitude of actuation and optical response within these nanostructures, which can be driven by electric signals of only a few volts or optical signals with power of only a few milliwatts. We envisage switchable, electro-optical, magneto-optical and nonlinear metamaterials that are compact and silicon-nanofabrication-technology compatible with functionalities surpassing those of natural media by orders of magnitude in some key design parameters.

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More information

Submitted date: 23 June 2015
Accepted/In Press date: 18 November 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 January 2016
Published date: January 2016
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 379138
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/379138
ISSN: 1748-3387
PURE UUID: ae768ce2-e93d-4a9e-b366-267bf8d22737
ORCID for N.I. Zheludev: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1013-6636
ORCID for E. Plum: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1552-1840

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 23 Jul 2015 15:59
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:32

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