Active control of dielectric singularities in indium-tin-oxides hyperbolic metamaterials

Dielectric singularities (DSs) constitute one of the most exotic features occurring in the effective permittivity of artificial multilayers called hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs). Associated to DSs, a rich phenomenology arises that justifies the ever-increasing interest profuse by the photonic community in achieving an active control of their properties. As an example, the possibility to “canalize” light down to the nanoscale as well as the capability of HMMs to interact with quantum emitters, placed in their proximity, enhancing their emission rate (Purcell effect), are worth mentioning. HMMs, however, suffer of an intrinsic lack of tunability of its DSs. Several architectures have been proposed to overcome this limit and, among them, the use of graphene outstands. Graphene-based HMMs recently shown outstanding canalization capabilities achieving λ/1660 light collimation. Despite the exceptional performances promised by these structures, stacking graphene/oxide multilayers is still an experimental challenge, especially envisioning electrical gating of all the graphene layers. In this paper, we propose a valid alternative in which indium-tin-oxide (ITO) is used as an electrically tunable metal. Here we have numerically designed and analyzed an ITO/SiO2 based HMM with a tunable canalization wavelength within the range between 1.57 and 2.74 μm. The structure feature light confinement of λ/8.8 (resolution of about 178 nm), self-focusing of the light down to 0.26 μm and Purcell factor of approximately 700. The proposed HMM nanoarchitecture could be potentially used in many applications, such as ultra-fast signal processing, high harmonic generation, lab-on-a-chip nanodevices, bulk plasmonic waveguides in integrated photonic circuits and laser diode collimators.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Graphene-based tunable hyperbolic microcavity

Abstract Graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterials provide a unique scaffold for designing nanophotonic devices with active functionalities. In this work, we have theoretically demonstrated that the characteristics of a polarization-dependent tunable hyperbolic microcavity in the mid-infrared frequencies could be realized by modulating the thickness of the dielectric layers, and thus breaking periodicity in a graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterial stack. Transmission of the tunable microcavity shows a Fabry–Perot resonant mode with a Q-factor > 20, and a sixfold local enhancement of electric field intensity. It was found that by varying the gating voltage of graphene from 2 to 8 V, the device could be self-regulated with respect to both the intensity (up to 30%) and spectrum (up to 2.1 µm). In addition, the switching of the device was considered over a wide range of incident angles for both the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes. Finally, numerical analysis indicated that a topological transition between elliptic and type II hyperbolic dispersion could be actively switched. The proposed scheme represents a remarkably versatile platform for the mid-infrared wave manipulation and may find applications in many multi-functional architectures, including ultra-sensitive filters, low-threshold lasers, and photonic chips

Anomalous resonance frequency shift in liquid crystal-loaded THz metamaterials

Babinet complementary patterns of a spectrally tunablemetamaterial incorporating a nematic liquid crystal is normally assumed to exhibit the same tuning range. Here we show that for a hybrid, terahertz liquid crystal-metamaterial, the sensitivity of its resonances to the varia-tions of the refractive index differs substantially for the two complementarypatterns. This is due to amismatchbetween the alignment of the liquid crystal and the direction of the local electricfield induced in thepatterns. Furthermore, and more intriguingly, our experimental data indicate that it is possible to shift the resonance of the positive metamaterial pattern beyond the limit imposed by the alignment mismatch. Our analysis suggests that the observed anom-alous frequency shift results from the orientational optical nonlinearity of a nematic liquid crystal

Surface charge screening and boundary conditions for high two-beam coupling gain in pure liquid crystals

We report on asymmetric two-beam coupling and the ways of controlling it in liquid crystals cells with photoconducting polymer layers. The cells had one of the substrates covered with a photoconductive polymer layer, namely PVK, photosensitised with C60 to respond to visible light. Efficient gain was measured in 30 micron thick cells with two incident beams having the same intensity. We present a model of two-beam coupling gain based on the build-up and discharge of surface charge screening layers, spatially modulated due to the photoconductivity of doped PVK. The simulation of electric field distribution inside a liquid crystal cell for different two-beam coupling grating spacing showed different penetration of field into the liquid crystal bulk. The characteristics of dynamics, magnitude of two-beam coupling and the efficiency of diffraction were determined for different values of applied DC field, cell configuration and liquid crystals. We found that the direction of energy flow was determined just by the cell tilt and not by the DC field bias

Experimental Verification of Single-Type Electron Population in Indium Tin Oxide Layers

Accurate determination of electronic transport properties of individual transparent conductive oxide layers, namely indium tin oxide (ITO), is essential for further development and design of photonic devices with ITO layer as a tunable ultrafast optoelectronic component. Precise magnetotransport measurements are here implemented to achieve carrier mobility distribution that gives insight into types and characteristics of carrier species. ITO thin films with various sheet resistance of ≈10, 75, and 350 Ω sq−1, respectively, are examined at near-room temperature. Unimodal mobility distribution is revealed in ITO films, independently on their resistivity, with no evidence of unseparated contributions from surface or interface states. The electron mobility varies depending on ITO's resistivity, ranging from 36.8 to 47.2 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 300 K. Importantly, no minority hole conduction is present. The ITO thin films exhibit solely bulk-like conduction with an absence of parallel conductions. In addition, the existence of single-type electron population in ITO that can be viewed as an important validation of exclusively donor-type defects and/or impurities contributing to total ITO conductivity is experimentally confirmed. These results indicate that ITO can be viewed as an integrated counterpart for photonic metadevices.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Terahertz properties of fluorinated liquid crystals

In this article, optical properties of four fluoro-substituted 4-propyl-4′-[(4-ethylphenyl)ethynyl] biphenyls and liquid crystal mixture A are presented in the terahertz (THz) range. Birefringence, refractive indices and absorption coefficients for ordinary and extraordinary ray of liquid crystals are described in the range of 0.3 to 3.0 THz. It shows that the measured parameters are dependent on the number and placement of fluorine atoms in the molecules. Measurements have been performed using time-pulsed spectroscopy. © Taylor & Francis