Jinghua Teng

Optical coupling of surface plasmons between graphene sheets

In this letter, we theoretically investigate the coupling of far-infrared surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) between spatially separated graphene sheets. By using the finite-difference frequency-domain method, we numerically illustrate the SPP propagation and modulation in the graphene sheets. The coupling of SPPs is employed to design zero insertion loss optical splitters, 1 × 2 digital optical spatial switches, and ultra-compact Mach-Zehnder interferometers with the arm length far below the diffraction limit. The study provides an effective way in designing graphene based high-speed and ultra-compact optoelectronic devices.

Microelectromechanical Maltese-cross metamaterial with tunable terahertz anisotropy.

Dichroic polarizers and waveplates exploiting anisotropic materials have vast applications in displays and numerous optical components, such as filters, beamsplitters and isolators. Artificial anisotropic media were recently suggested for the realization of negative refraction, cloaking, hyperlenses, and controlling luminescence. However, extending these applications into the terahertz domain is hampered by a lack of natural anisotropic media, while artificial metamaterials offer a strong engineered anisotropic response. Here we demonstrate a terahertz metamaterial with anisotropy tunable from positive to negative values. It is based on the Maltese-cross pattern, where anisotropy is induced by breaking the four-fold symmetry of the cross by displacing one of its beams. The symmetry breaking permits the excitation of a Fano mode active for one of the polarization eigenstates controlled by actuators using microelectromechanical systems. The metamaterial offers new opportunities for the development of terahertz variable waveplates, tunable filters and polarimetry.

Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance on a Smooth Silver Film with a Seed Growth Layer

This paper reports an effective method to enhance the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) on Ag films by using a thin Ni seed layer assisted deposition. Ag films with a thickness of about 50 nm were deposited by electron beam evaporation above an ultrathin Ni seed layer of approximately 2 nm on both silicon and quartz substrates. The root-mean-square (rms) surface roughness and the correlation length have been reduced from >4 nm and 28 nm for a pure Ag film to approximately 1.3 and 19 nm for Ag/Ni films, respectively. Both experimental and simulation results show that the Ag/Ni films exhibit an enhanced SPR over the pure Ag film with a narrower full width at half-maximum. Ag films with a Ge seed layer have also been prepared under the same conditions. The surface roughness can be reduced to less than 0.7 nm, but narrowing of the SPR curve is not observed due to increased absorptive damping in the Ge seed layer. Our results show that Ni acts as a roughness-diminishing growth layer for the Ag film while at the same time maintaining and enhancing the plasmonic properties of the combined structures. This points toward its use for low-loss plasmonic devices and optical metamaterials applications.

Hybrid bilayer plasmonic metasurface efficiently manipulates visible light

Two highly coupled plasmonic metasurfaces exhibit much higher conversion efficiency and extinction ratio than individual ones. Metasurfaces operating in the cross-polarization scheme have shown an interesting degree of control over the wavefront of transmitted light. Nevertheless, their inherently low efficiency in visible light raises certain concerns for practical applications. Without sacrificing the ultrathin flat design, we propose a bilayer plasmonic metasurface operating at visible frequencies, obtained by coupling a nanoantenna-based metasurface with its complementary Babinet-inverted copy. By breaking the radiation symmetry because of the finite, yet small, thickness of the proposed structure and benefitting from properly tailored intra- and interlayer couplings, such coupled bilayer metasurface experimentally yields a conversion efficiency of 17%, significantly larger than that of earlier single-layer designs, as well as an extinction ratio larger than 0 dB, meaning that anomalous refraction dominates the transmission response. Our finding shows that metallic metasurface can counterintuitively manipulate the visible light as efficiently as dielectric metasurface (~20% in conversion efficiency in Lin et al.’s study), although the metal’s ohmic loss is much higher than dielectrics. Our hybrid bilayer design, still being ultrathin (~λ/6), is found to obey generalized Snell’s law even in the presence of strong couplings. It is capable of efficiently manipulating visible light over a broad bandwidth and can be realized with a facile one-step nanofabrication process.

Visible-Frequency Metasurface for Structuring and Spatially Multiplexing Optical Vortices

A multifocus optical vortex metalens, with enhanced signal-to-noise ratio, is presented, which focuses three longitudinal vortices with distinct topological charges at different focal planes. The design largely extends the flexibility of tuning the number of vortices and their focal positions for circularly polarized light in a compact device, which provides the convenience for the nanomanipulation of optical vortices.

Lasing in GaN microdisks pivoted on Si

Arrays of pivoted GaN microdisks have been fabricated on a GaN∕Si material by a combination of dry and wet etching. The Si material beneath the GaN microdisks is removed by wet etching, leaving behind a fine pillar to support the disks. Raman spectroscopy reveals substantial strain relaxation in these structures. Resonant modes, corresponding to whispering gallery modes, are observed in the photoluminescence spectra. Stimulated emission is achieved at higher optical pumping intensities.

Annular aperture array based color filter

In this letter, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a color filter based on an annular aperture geometry working in the visible range. The device is built by configuring an array of annular apertures in a gold film suitable for transmission measurement. We show effective fine tuning of resonance peaks through precise geometric control of the aperture dimensions. Selective transmission through annular apertures of various sizes leads to continuous color tuning of transmitted electromagnetic waves. This may find potential for application in high-definition displays, optical filters, ultrafast switching, and bio-sensing.

Fabrication of TiO2 Binary Inverse Opals without Overlayers via the Sandwich-Vacuum Infiltration of Precursor

A sandwich-vacuum method was demonstrated for the fabrication of titania (TiO(2)) binary inverse opals with an open surface. In this method, a moisture-stable TiO(2) precursor was backfilled into the interstitial spaces of polystyrene binary colloidal crystals (PS bCCs), which served as a template. Removal of the template by calcination yielded TiO(2) binary inverse opals with a 3D-ordered macroporous (3DOM) structure. Optical reflectance spectra revealed the existence of a pseudostop band gap in the 3DOM TiO(2) samples. The position of the pseudostop band gap shifted to the low-wavelength region as the number ratio of small over large PS spheres was increased in the template. The sandwich-vacuum method proved to be simple and rapid for the fabrication of TiO(2) binary inverse opals without overlayers in large domains. The 3DOM TiO(2) materials were used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of benzoic acid. Results showed that in comparison to TiO(2) nanoparticles prepared under the same sintering conditions, the 3DOM TiO(2) materials displayed enhanced photocatalytic activity.

High Aspect Subdiffraction-Limit Photolithography via a Silver Superlens

Photolithography is the technology of choice for mass patterning in semiconductor and data storage industries. Superlenses have demonstrated the capability of subdiffraction-limit imaging and been envisioned as a promising technology for potential nanophotolithography. Unfortunately, subdiffraction-limit patterns generated by current superlenses exhibited poor profile depth far below the requirement for photolithography. Here, we report an experimental demonstration of sub-50 nm resolution nanophotolithography via a smooth silver superlens with a high aspect profile of ~45 nm, as well as grayscale subdiffraction-limit three-dimensional nanopatterning. Theoretical analysis and simulation show that smooth interfaces play a critical role. Superlens-based lithography can be integrated with conventional UV photolithography systems to endow them with the capability of nanophotolithography, which could provide a cost-effective approach for large scale and rapid nanopatterning.

Ultrathin multi-band planar metamaterial absorber based on standing wave resonances

We present a planar waveguide model and a mechanism based on standing wave resonances to interpret the unity absorptions of ultrathin planar metamaterial absorbers. The analytical model predicts that the available absorption peaks of the absorber are corresponding to the fundamental mode and only its odd harmonic modes of the standing wave. The model is in good agreement with numerical simulation and can explain the main features observed in typical ultrathin planar metamaterial absorbers. Based on this model, ultrathin planar metamaterial absorbers with multi-band absorptions at desired frequencies can be easily designed.