Zi-Lan Deng

Wide-angled off-axis achromatic metasurfaces for visible light

We present an approach to build multiwavelength achromatic metasurface that can work in off-axis configuration with an ultra-wide applicable incident angle range for visible light. The metasurface is constructed by combining multiple metallic nano-groove gratings, which support enhanced diffractions for transverse magnetic polarization in an ultrawide incident angle range from 10° to 80° due to the excitations of localized gap plasmon modes at different resonance wavelengths. To achieve the achromatic diffraction, the ratio between the resonance wavelength and the period of each elementary grating is fixed. Incident light at those multiple resonance wavelengths can be efficiently diffracted into the same direction with near-complete suppression of the specular reflection. Based on the similar approach, we also design a wide-angled off-axis achromatic flat lens for focusing light of different wavelengths into the same position. Our findings provide an alternative simple way to design various off-axis achromatic flat optical elements without stringent angle requirement for imaging and display applications.

Manipulating pseudospin-polarized state of light in dispersion-immune photonic topological metacrystals

We proposed a group-theory method to calculate topological invariant in bi-isotropic photonic crystals invariant under crystallographic point group symmetries. Spin Chern number has been evaluated by the eigenvalues of rotation operators at high symmetry k-points after the pseudo-spin polarized fields are retrieved. Topological characters of photonic edge states and photonic band gaps can be well predicted by total spin Chern number. Nontrivial phase transition is found in large magnetoelectric coupling due to the jump of total spin Chern number. Light transport is also issued at the {epsilon}/{mu} mismatching boundary between air and the bi-isotropic photonic crystal. This finding presents the relationship between group symmetry and photonic topological systems, which enables the design of photonic nontrivial states in a rational manner.

Lasing in plasmon-induced transparency nanocavity

We propose a plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) nanocavity for achieving nanoscopic coherent light source. The compact cavity is constructed by a pair of detuned nano-stubs incorporated with four-level gain medium. The PIT response enables the reduction of the coupling loss from cavity to waveguide while keeping the cavity size unchanged, different from the end-facet Fabry-Pérot cavity in which the radiation loss decreases at the cost of size increment. In order to study the lasing behavior of surface plasmon wave in the PIT cavity, the self-consistent finite element method is employed to model the interactions between gain and propagating surface plasmons. The dynamics of the whole lasing process is observed, and the linear output-input relation is obtained for the single mode plasmon lasing. It is demonstrated that smaller stub-pair detuning provides stronger feedback inside the cavity. Consequently, the lasing threshold of pumping rate decreases quadratically with the decreasing of detuning. However, the output-input extraction efficiency will improve when the detuning is not so small. One of the advantages for the proposal is that the lasing output power from the cavity can directly couple towards the metal-dielectric-metal waveguide platform, facilitating the field of integrated plasmonic circuits and molecular-scale coherent light source.

Full controlling of Fano resonances in metal-slit superlattice

Controlling of the lineshape of Fano resonance attracts much attention recently due to its wide capabilities for lasing, biosensing, slow-light applications and so on. However, the controllable Fano resonance always requires stringent alignment of complex symmetry-breaking structures and thus the manipulation could only be performed with limited degrees of freedom and narrow tuning range. Furthermore, there is no report so far on independent controlling of both the bright and dark modes in a single structure. Here, we semi-analytically show that the spectral position and linewidth of both the bright and dark modes can be tuned independently and/or simultaneously in a simple and symmetric metal-slit superlattice, and thus allowing for a free and continuous controlling of the lineshape of both the single and multiple Fano resonances. The independent controlling scheme is applicable for an extremely large electromagnetic spectrum range from optical to microwave frequencies, which is demonstrated by the numerical simulations with real metal and a microwave experiment. Our findings may provide convenient and flexible strategies for future tunable electromagnetic devices.

Diatomic Metasurface for Vectorial Holography

The emerging metasurfaces with the exceptional capability of manipulating an arbitrary wavefront have revived the holography with unprecedented prospects. However, most of the reported metaholograms suffer from limited polarization controls for a restrained bandwidth in addition to their complicated meta-atom designs with spatially variant dimensions. Here, we demonstrate a new concept of vectorial holography based on diatomic metasurfaces consisting of metamolecules formed by two orthogonal meta-atoms. On the basis of a simply linear relationship between phase and polarization modulations with displacements and orientations of identical meta-atoms, active diffraction of multiple polarization states and reconstruction of holographic images are simultaneously achieved, which is robust against both incident angles and wavelengths. Leveraging this appealing feature, broadband vectorial holographic images with spatially varying polarization states and dual-way polarization switching functionalities have been demonstrated, suggesting a new route to achromatic diffractive elements, polarization optics, and ultrasecure anticounterfeiting.

Trimeric metasurfaces for independent control of bright and dark modes of Fano resonances

In this paper, we present a simple trimeric metasurface consisting of three dipolar resonators in each unit cell, to achieve the independent controlling over both the broad bright mode and the sharp dark mode of Fano resonances. Through both the finite difference time domain simulation and microwave experiment, we find that spectral positions of the bright and dark modes are linearly dependent on, respectively, the global spacing between adjacent unit cells and the local spacing between adjacent dipoles within each unit cell. The dependence of the spectral position of bright (dark) mode on the global (local) spacing is independent without mutual influence, which provides a facile pathway to control the Fano resonance with large flexibility. Our proposed scheme to control Fano resonance is highly desired in various fields including lasing spaser and biosensing with improved performance.

Direct eigenmode analysis of plasmonic modes in metal nanoparticle chain with layered medium

Using the dyadic Green function (GF) with a multilayer medium, we propose an eigendecomposition (ED) analysis of a plasmonic system composed of a one-dimensional periodic metal nanoparticle chain and planar layered structure. An effective eigenpolarizability involving the collective effects of both the chain and the layered structure is well defined to characterize the dispersion relation and the mode quality of the plasmonic modes. Applying this method, we demonstrate that the interplay between the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at the metal-dielectric interface and the localized plasmon in the chain enables strong mode splitting. In particular, for the polarization perpendicular to layer surface, high-quality modes can be present inside the light cone even if the chain is open to the surrounding air. A slow-light band is also predicted to exist as long as the layered medium supports a SPP mode that can couple to the chain mode.

Power transmission and group delay in gain-assisted plasmon-induced transparency

A gain-assisted plasmonic waveguide with two detuned resonators is investigated in the plasmon-induced transparency window. Phase map is employed to study power transmittance and group delay for varying gain coefficients and frequency detunings of the two resonators. The gain coefficient for lasing oscillation condition is analytically shown to vary quadratically with the frequency detuning. In the amplification regime below the lasing threshold, the spectrum implies not only large group delay, but also high transmittance and narrow linewidth. This is in contrast to those in the loss-compensation regime and the passive case in which there always exists a trade-off between the linewidth and the peak transmittance.A gain-assisted plasmonic waveguide with two detuned resonators is investigated in the plasmon-induced transparency window. Phase map is employed to study power transmittance and group delay for varying gain coefficients and frequency detunings of the two resonators. The gain coefficient for lasing oscillation condition is analytically shown to vary quadratically with the frequency detuning. In the amplification regime below the lasing threshold, the spectrum implies not only large group delay, but also high transmittance and narrow linewidth. This is in contrast to those in the loss-compensation regime and the passive case in which there always exists a trade-off between the linewidth and the peak transmittance.

Non-uniform annular rings-based metasurfaces for high-efficient and polarization-independent focusing

A reflection metasurface, composed of metallic annular rings, is presented for realizing high-efficient and polarization-independent focusing. By varying the inner and outer radii of the isotropic rings, we can achieve a full modulation on the phase from −180° to 180°. By properly arranging the annular rings, we design gradient metasurfaces for focusing without polarization sensitivity by finite element method simulations and further demonstrate the focusing effect with high-efficient and polarization-independent performance experimentally in the microwave domain. In addition, the structure is also proved applicable in the optical domain by simulations. This work expands the capabilities of metasurfaces to focusing and imaging applications without polarization limitations.

Plasmonic Spectral Splitting in Ring/Rod Metasurface

We report spectral splitting behaviors based on Fano resonances in a novel simple planar metasurface composed of gold nanobars and nanorings. Multiple plasmonic modes and sharp Fano effects are achieved in a broadband transmittance spectrum by exploiting the rotational symmetry of the metasurface. The transmission properties are effectively modified and tuned by modulating the structural parameters. The highest single side Q-factor and FoM which reaches 196 and 105 are observed at Fano resonances. Our proposed design is relatively simple and can be applied for various applications such as multi-wavelength highly sensitive plasmonic sensors, switching, and slow light devices.