Nikolai Zheludev

Asymmetric propagation of electromagnetic waves through a planar chiral structure

We report the first experiential observation and theoretical analysis of the new phenomenon of planar chiral circular conversion dichroism, which in some aspects resembles the Faraday effect in magnetized media, but does not require the presence of a magnetic field for its observation. It results from the interaction of an electromagnetic wave with a planar chiral structure patterned on the sub-wavelength scale, and manifests itself in asymmetric transmission of circularly polarized waves in the opposite directions through the structure and elliptically polarized eigenstates. The new effect is radically different from conventional gyrotropy of three-dimensional chiral media.

All-optical dynamic focusing of light via coherent absorption in a plasmonic metasurface

Vision, microscopy, imaging, optical data projection and storage all depend on focusing of light. Dynamic focusing is conventionally achieved with mechanically reconfigurable lenses, spatial light modulators or microfluidics. Here we demonstrate that dynamic control of focusing can be achieved through coherent interaction of optical waves on a thin beam splitter. We use a nanostructured plasmonic metasurface of subwavelength thickness as the beam splitter, allowing operation in the regimes of coherent absorption and coherent transparency. Focusing of light resulting from illumination of the plasmonic metasurface with a Fresnel zone pattern is controlled by another patterned beam projected on the same metasurface. By altering the control pattern, its phase, or its intensity, we switch the lens function on and off, and alter the focal spot’s depth, diameter and intensity. Switching occurs as fast as the control beam is modulated and therefore tens of gigahertz modulation bandwidth is possible with electro-optical modulators, which is orders of magnitude faster than conventional dynamic focusing technologies.

Dataset for Phase change-driven dielectric-plasmonic transitions in chalcogenide metasurfaces

Dataset supports: Gholipour, B., Karvounis, A., Yin, J., Soci, C., MacDonald, K. F., & Zheludev, N. I. (2018). Phase-change-driven dielectric-plasmonic transitions in chalcogenide metasurfaces. NPG Asia Materials.

Dataset for Ultra-confined surface phonon polaritons in molecular layers of van der Waals dielectrics

Dataset supporting: Dubrovkin, Alexander et al. (2018) Ultra-confined surface phonon polaritons in molecular layers of van der Waals dielectrics. Nature Communications

Combinatorial search for plasmonic and epsilon-near-zero chalcogenide alloys

The chalcogenides represent a unique material platform, capable of providing high-index dielectric, plasmonic, ‘epsilon-near-zero’ (ENZ) or topological insulator properties when the constituent elements are combined in the right proportion. Moreover, they can exhibit reversible, non-volatile structural transitions between solid phases with vastly different electromagnetic properties. We report here on a combinatorial study of the synthesis of plasmonic chalcogenides, including compositions that can be switched between plasmonic and dielectric states.

Ga particle templated assembly dataset

SEM image set for: Waters, Robin et al (2016) Templated assembly of metal nanoparticle films on polymer substrates. Applied Physics Letters.

Dataset for Many-body subradiant excitations in metamaterial arrays: Experiment and theory

Dataset supports: Jenkins, S.et al (2017). Many-body subradiant excitations in metamaterial arrays: Experiment and theory. Physical Review Letters.

Dataset for Achromatic super-oscillatory lenses with sub-wavelength focusing

Dataset supports: Guanghui, Y., Rogers, E., & Zheludev, N. (2017). Achromatic super-oscillatory lenses with sub-wavelength focusing. Light : Science & Applications, 6, [e17036]. DOI: 10.1038/lsa.2017.36

Dataset for Magneto-optical response in bimetallic metamaterials

Dataset supporting: Atmatzakis, Evangelos et al (2016) Magneto-optical response in bimetallic metamaterials. Nanophotonics.

Dataset for Reconfigurable phase-change photomask for grayscale photolithography

Data set to support: Wang, Q. et al (2017). Reconfigurable phase-change photomask for grayscale photolithography, Applied Physics Letters