Nikita A. Butakov

Widely Tunable Infrared Antennas Using Free Carrier Refraction.

We demonstrate tuning of infrared Mie resonances by varying the carrier concentration in doped semiconductor antennas. We fabricate spherical silicon and germanium particles of varying sizes and doping concentrations. Single-particle infrared spectra reveal electric and magnetic dipole, quadrupole, and hexapole resonances. We subsequently demonstrate doping-dependent frequency shifts that follow simple Drude models, culminating in the emergence of plasmonic resonances at high doping levels and long wavelengths. These findings demonstrate the potential for actively tuning infrared Mie resonances by optically or electrically modulating charge carrier densities, thus providing an excellent platform for tunable metamaterials.

Designing Multipolar Resonances in Dielectric Metamaterials

Dielectric resonators form the building blocks of nano-scale optical antennas and metamaterials. Due to their multipolar resonant response and low intrinsic losses they offer design flexibility and high-efficiency performance. These resonators are typically described in terms of a spherical harmonic decomposition with Mie theory. In experimental realizations however, a departure from spherical symmetry and the use of high-index substrates leads to new features appearing in the multipolar response. To clarify this behavior, we present a systematic experimental and numerical characterization of Silicon disk resonators. We demonstrate that for disk resonators on low-index quartz substrates, the electric and magnetic dipole modes are easily identifiable across a wide range of aspect-ratios, but that higher order peaks cannot be unambiguously associated with any specific multipolar mode. On high-index Silicon substrates, even the fundamental dipole modes do not have a clear association. When arranged into arrays, resonances are shifted and pronounced preferential forward and backward scattering conditions appear, which are not as apparent in individual resonators and may be associated with interference between multipolar modes. These findings present new opportunities for engineering the multipolar scattering response of dielectric optical antennas and metamaterials, and provide a strategy for designing nano-optical components with unique functionalities.

Ultrawide Thermo-optic Tuning of PbTe Meta-Atoms

Subwavelength Mie resonators have enabled new classes of optical antenna and nanophotonic devices and can act as the basic meta-atom constituents of low-loss dielectric metasurfaces. In any application, tunable Mie resonances are key to achieving a dynamic and reconfigurable operation. However, the active tuning of these nanoantennas is still limited and usually results in sub-linewidth resonance tuning. Here, we demonstrate the ultrawide dynamic tuning of PbTe Mie resonators fabricated via both laser ablation and a novel solution-processing approach. Taking advantage of the extremely large thermo-optic (TO) coefficient and a high refractive index of PbTe, we demonstrate high-quality factor Mie resonances that are tuned by several linewidths with temperature modulations as small as ΔT ∼ 10 K. We reveal that the origin for this exceptional tunability is due to an increased TO coefficient of PbTe at low temperatures. When combined into metasurface arrays, these effects can be exploited in ultranarrow active notch filers and metasurface phase shifters that require only a few kelvin modulation. These findings demonstrate the enabling potential of PbTe as a versatile, solution-processable, and highly tunable nanophotonic material that suggests new possibilities for meta-atom paints, coatings, and 3D metamaterials fabrication.

Hybrid optical antennas with photonic resistors

Hybrid optical antennas, comprising active materials placed in the gaps of plasmonic split-ring-resonators and nano-dimers, have been the subject of numerous recent investigations. Engineered coupling between the two plasmonic resonators is achieved by modulating the active material, enabling control over the near- and far-field electromagnetic properties. Here, using electromagnetics calculations, we study the evolving optical response of a hybrid metal-semiconductor-metal nanorod antenna as the semiconductor free charge carrier density is continuously varied. In particular, we demonstrate qualitatively new behavior arising from epsilon-near-zero properties in intermediately doped semiconductors. In agreement with optical nano-circuit theory, we show that in the epsilon-near-zero regime such a load acts as an ideal optical resistor with an optimized damping response and strongly suppressed electromagnetic scattering. In periodic arrays, or metasurfaces, we then show how to use these effects to construct high-efficiency nanophotonic intensity modulators for dynamically shaping light.

Widely tunable infrared semiconductor Mie resonators(Conference Presentation)

Optical antenna metasurfaces have attracted substantial attention in recent years, as they may enable new classes of planar optical elements. However, actively tuning nanoantenna resonances, whether dielectric or plasmonic, remains an unresolved challenge. In this work, we investigate tuning mid-infrared (MIR) Mie resonances in semiconductor subwavelength particles by directly modulating the permittivity with free charge carriers. Using femtosecond laser ablation, we fabricate spherical silicon and germanium particles of varying sizes and doping concentrations. Single-particle infrared spectra reveal electric and magnetic dipole, quadrupole, and hexapole resonances. We first demonstrate size-dependent Si and Ge Mie resonances spanning the entire mid-infrared (2-16 μm) spectral range. We subsequently show doping-dependent resonance frequency shifts that follow simple Drude models. Taking advantage of the large doping dependence of Si and Ge MIR permittivities, we demonstrate a huge tunability of Mie resonance wavelengths (up to ~ 9 μm) over a broad 2-16 μm MIR range. This tuning range corresponds to changes of permittivity as large as 30 within a single material system, culminating in the emergence of plasmonic modes at high carrier densities and long wavelengths. We also demonstrate dynamic tuning of intrinsic semiconductor antennas using thermo-optic effects. These findings demonstrate the potential for actively tuning infrared Mie resonances, thus providing an excellent platform for tunable metamaterials.

Dynamically reconfigurable metasurfaces (Presentation Recording)

Recently, the use of phased array metasurfaces to control the phase and amplitude of electromagnetic waves at subwavelength dimensions have led to large number of devices ranging from flat optical elements to holographic projections. Here we analytically (and numerically using FDTD techniques) develop a design principle to form reconfigurable metasurfaces that control the phase of transmitted beam between 0 and 2π in a lossless manner. For a linearly polarized plane wave incident on a sub-wavelength array of dielectric resonators, we engineer the size of the individual resonators and the array periodicity such that the fundamental Electric and Magnetic dipole resonances of the device cross each other. This mode crossing caused by coupling of individual resonator modes with the surface lattice resonances, constructively interferes with the incident plane wave enabling us to form lossless metasurfaces. By optically pumping charge carriers into the resonators, we can tune the refractive index of the individual resonators leading to arbitrary control over the phase of the transmitted beam between 0 and 2π with less than 3dB loss in intensity. Further, we extend these strategies by redesigning the resonator elements by forming core-shell (metal-dielectric) resonators to cause the resonance matching within each resonator. This enables the mode crossing to be independent of the periodicity of the resonator elements while preserving the arbitrary control over the phase through charge carrier modulation. Such metasurfaces with spectrally overlapping electric and magnetic dipole modes may form the basis for a range of metadevices with unprecedented control over the Electromagnetic wave front.

Properties of infrared doped semiconductor Mie resonators (Presentation Recording)

Dielectric optical antenna resonators have recently emerged as a viable alternative to plasmonic resonators for metamaterials and nanophotonic devices, due to their ability to support multipolar Mie resonances with low losses. In this work, we experimentally investigate the mid-infrared Mie resonances in Si and Ge subwavelength spherical particles. In particular, we leverage the electronic and optical properties of these semiconductors in the mid-infrared range to design and tune Mie resonators through free-carrier refraction. Si and Ge semiconductor spheres of varying sizes of 0.5-4 μm were fabricated using femtosecond laser ablation. Using single particle infrared spectroscopy, we first demonstrate size-dependent Si and Ge Mie resonances spanning the entire mid-infrared (2-16 μm) spectral range. Subsequently we show that the Mie resonances can be tuned by varying material properties rather than size or geometry. We experimentally demonstrate doping-dependent resonance frequency shifts that follow simple Drude models of free-carrier refraction. We show that Ge particles exhibit a stronger doping dependence than Si due to the smaller effective mass of the free carriers. Using the unique size and doping dispersion of the electric and magnetic dipole modes, we identify and demonstrate a size regime where these modes are spectrally overlapping. We also demonstrate the emergence of plasmonic resonances for high doping levels and long wavelengths. These findings demonstrate the potential for tuning infrared semiconductor Mie resonances by optically or electrically modulating charge carrier densities, thus providing an excellent platform for tunable electromagnetic metamaterials.