The Vibrant Interplay of Light and Self-Reporting Macromolecular Architectures

Inspired by nature, notable efforts have been made towards the exploration of self-reporting polymers within the last decades. Whereas the majority of the previously reported self-reporting polymers deliberately relies on a diverse set of mechanisms triggered via different stimuli (e.g., mechanical, thermal, pH, solvation, light, and chemical amongst others), light plays a ubiquitous role not only as a remote trigger, but also as non-destructive readout signal for the practical applications of self-reporting polymers. Due to the ever-growing interest within the respective field (e.g., load bearing materials, nanotechnology, biomedicine, or theranostics), herein a synthetic overview is presented with the aim to provide an informative perspective on challenges facing the vibrant interplay of light and self-reporting macromolecular architectures

Highly asymmetric transmission of linearly polarized waves realized with a multilayered structure including chiral metamaterials

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We numerically and experimentally demonstrate highly asymmetric transmission of linearly polarized waves with a multilayered metallic structure. The whole structure has a subwavelength thickness and consists of a thin slab of chiral metamaterial sandwiched between two 90° twisted linear polarizers. The chiral metamaterial is made of two sets of twisting cross wires that can rotate the polarization by 90° at resonance, and the two linear polarizers are simple metallic grating polarizers. The operation principle of the whole structure can be well interpreted by using the Jones matrix method. Our experimental results also verify that chiral metamaterials can be safely integrated into complex structures and treated as an effective medium as long as their resonant modes are not affected by the environment. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd

Chiral metamaterials: from optical activity and negative refractive index to asymmetric transmission

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We summarize the progress in the development and application of chiral metamaterials. After a brief review of the salient features of chiral metamaterials, such as giant optical activity, circular dichroism, and negative refractive index, the common method for the retrieval of effective parameters for chiral metamaterials is surveyed. Then, we introduce some typical chiral structures, e.g., chiral metamaterial consisting of split ring resonators, complementary chiral metamaterial, and composite chiral metamaterial, on the basis of the studies of the authors’ group. The coupling effect during the construction of bulk chiral metamaterials is mentioned and discussed. We introduce the application of bianisotropic chiral structures in the field of asymmetric transmission. Finally, we mention a few directions for future research on chiral metamaterials

Multiband one-way polarization conversion in complementary split-ring resonator based structures by combining chirality and tunneling

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Multiband one-way polarization conversion and strong asymmetry in transmission inspired by it are demonstrated in ultrathin sandwiched structures that comprise two twisted aperture-type arrays of complementary split-ring resonators (CSRRs), metallic mesh, and dielectric layers. The basic features of the resulting mechanism originate from the common effect of chirality and tunneling. The emphasis is put on the (nearly) perfect polarization conversion of linear incident polarization into the orthogonal one and related diodelike asymmetric transmission within multiple narrow bands. Desired polarization conversion can be obtained at several resonances for one of the two opposite incidence directions, whereas transmission is fully blocked for the other one. The resonances, at which the (nearly) perfect conversion takes place, are expected to be inherited from similar structures with parallel, i.e., not rotated CSRR arrays that do not enable chirality and, thus, polarization conversion. It is found that the basic transmission and polarization conversion features and, thus, the dominant physics are rather general, enabling efficient engineering of such structures. The lowest-frequency resonance can be obtained in structures made of conventional materials with total thickness less than lambda/50 and up to ten such resonances can correspond to thickness less than lambda/20. (C)2015 Optical Society of America

Untapped toolbox of luminol based polymers

The objective of the current Perspective article is to highlight the present state of luminol based polymers, with a specific emphasis on how to include luminol derivatives into polymer chains using both electrochemical and chemical techniques with an underline on new synthetic methods. Importantly, the current limitations that limit the expansion of polymeric luminol derivatives will be discussed by drawing attention to the challenges of solubilising monomers, the harsh conditions leading to undesired side reactions during the polymerization process or the necessity of orthogonal post-modification reactions. Importantly, the article discusses the remaining challenges within the field, while suggesting strategies for the advancement of this versatile class of polymers

Prevent or Cure - The Unprecedented Need for Self-Reporting Materials

Self‐reporting smart materials are highly relevant in modern soft matter materials science, as they allow for the autonomous detection of changes in synthetic polymers, materials, and composites. Despite critical advantages of such materials, for example, prolonged lifetime or prevention of disastrous material failures, they have gained much less attention than self‐healing materials. However, as diagnosis is critical for any therapy, it is of the utmost importance to report the existence of system changes and their exact location to prevent them from spreading. Thus, we herein critically review the chemistry of self‐reporting soft matter materials systems and highlight how current challenges and limitations may be overcome by successfully transferring self‐reporting research concepts from the laboratory to the real world. Especially in the space of diagnostic self‐reporting systems, the recent SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) pandemic indicates an urgent need for such concepts that may be able to detect the presence of viruses or bacteria on and within materials in a self‐reporting fashion

Experimental realization of a high-contrast grating based broadband quarter-wave plate

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Fabrication and experimental characterization of a broadband quarter-wave plate, which is based on two-dimensional and binary silicon high-contrast gratings, are reported. The quarter-wave plate feature is achieved by the utilization of a regime, in which the proposed grating structure exhibits nearly total and approximately equal transmission of transverse electric and transverse magnetic waves with a phase difference of approximately pi/2. The numerical and experimental results suggest a percent bandwidth of 42% and 33%, respectively, if the operation regime is defined as the range for which the conversion efficiency is higher than 0.9. A compact circular polarizer can be implemented by combining the grating with a linear polarizer. (C) 2012 Optical Society of Americ

One-way reciprocal spoof surface plasmons and relevant reversible diodelike beaming

Cataloged from PDF version of article.One-way excitation of spoof surface plasmons (SPs) and strongly pronounced diodelike extraordinary transmission of linearly polarized waves in the beaming regime can be obtained by combining spoof SPs and cross-polarization conversion resonances. The reciprocal composite structure that is suggested to realize this mechanism consists of a symmetric metallic grating with a subwavelength slit and a metamaterial based ultrathin 90 degrees polarization rotator and, therefore, shows the broken spatial inversion symmetry. In contrast to the earlier studies of SP inspired transmission through subwavelength slits, asymmetric (one-way) beaming is demonstrated at normal incidence and for both s- and p-polarized incident waves. Furthermore, as an implication of Lorentz reciprocity, the studied diodelike mechanism is reversible, which manifests itself in that transmission is significant for one of the two opposite illumination directions at s polarization and for the other direction at p polarization. The obtained numerical and experimental results verify the general idea and enable us to select the optimal operation regimes