2,518 research outputs found
A Superlens Based on Metal-Dielectric Composites
Pure noble metals are typically considered to be the materials of choice for
a near-field superlens that allows subwavelength resolution by recovering both
propagating and evanescent waves. However, a superlens based on bulk metal can
operate only at a single frequency for a given dielectric host. In this Letter,
it is shown that a composite metal-dielectric film, with an appropriate metal
filling factor, can operate at practically any desired wavelength in the
visible and near-infrared ranges. Theoretical analysis and simulations verify
the feasibility of the proposed lens.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Mirrorless Negative-index Parametric Micro-oscillator
The feasibility and extraordinary properties of mirrorless parametric
oscillations in strongly absorbing negative-index metamaterials are shown. They
stem from the backwardness of electromagnetic waves inherent to this type of
metamaterials.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Epsilon-Near-Zero Al-Doped ZnO for Ultrafast Switching at Telecom Wavelengths: Outpacing the Traditional Amplitude-Bandwidth Trade-Off
Transparent conducting oxides have recently gained great attention as
CMOS-compatible materials for applications in nanophotonics due to their low
optical loss, metal-like behavior, versatile/tailorable optical properties, and
established fabrication procedures. In particular, aluminum doped zinc oxide
(AZO) is very attractive because its dielectric permittivity can be engineered
over a broad range in the near infrared and infrared. However, despite all
these beneficial features, the slow (> 100 ps) electron-hole recombination time
typical of these compounds still represents a fundamental limitation impeding
ultrafast optical modulation. Here we report the first epsilon-near-zero AZO
thin films which simultaneously exhibit ultra-fast carrier dynamics (excitation
and recombination time below 1 ps) and an outstanding reflectance modulation up
to 40% for very low pump fluence levels (< 4 mJ/cm2) at the telecom wavelength
of 1.3 {\mu}m. The unique properties of the demonstrated AZO thin films are the
result of a low temperature fabrication procedure promoting oxygen vacancies
and an ultra-high carrier concentration. As a proof-of-concept, an all-optical
AZO-based plasmonic modulator achieving 3 dB modulation in 7.5 {\mu}m and
operating at THz frequencies is numerically demonstrated. Our results overcome
the traditional "modulation depth vs. speed" trade-off by at least an order of
magnitude, placing AZO among the most promising compounds for
tunable/switchable nanophotonics.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl
Four-wave mixing, quantum control and compensating losses in doped negative-index photonic metamaterials
The possibility of compensating absorption in negative-index metatamterials
(NIMs) doped by resonant nonlinear-optical centers is shown. The role of
quantum interference and extraordinary properties of four-wave parametric
amplification of counter-propagating electromagnetic waves in NIMs are
discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, corrected typos in eqs. (1) and (2
Quantum informatics with plasmonic metamaterials
Surface polaritons at a meta-material interface are proposed as qubits. The
SP fields are shown to have low losses, subwavelength confinement and can
demonstrate very small modal volume. These important properties are used to
demonstatre interesting applications in quantum information, i.e., coherent
control of weak fields and large Kerr nonlinearity at the low photon level
Engineering of Low-Loss Metal for Nanoplasmonic and Metamaterials Applications
We have shown that alloying a noble metal (gold) with another metal
(cadmium), which can contribute two electrons per atom to a free electron gas,
can significantly improve the metals optical properties in certain wavelength
ranges and make them worse in the other parts of the spectrum. In particular,
in the gold-cadmium alloy we have demonstrated a significant expansion of the
spectral range of metallic reflectance to shorter wavelengths. The experimental
results and the predictions of the first principles theory demonstrate an
opportunity for the improvement and optimization of low-loss metals for
nanoplasmonic and metamaterials applications.Comment: 14 Pages, 4 figure
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