NIRT: Nanoscale Metalic Photonic Crystals; Fabrication, Physical Properties, and Applications

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This proposal was submitted in response to the solicitation "Nanoscale Science and Engineering" (NSF 00-119). The goals of the project are the fabrication, study of physical properties, theory and applications of nanoscale metallic photonic crystals (NMPC). These are structures in which metals are periodically embedded into dielectrics with nanometer size periods. NMPC may carry substantial electrical current but at the same time have transmission bands in the visible/infrared ranges. Some NMPC are also magnetic with important collective spin properties, while others may be superconductors at low temperature with non-linear transport properties. It is planned to fabricate two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) NMPC structures, and study their linear and nonlinear optical properties, as well as their transport properties. The surface of low-defect molecular single crystals from the acenes family (such as anthracene, pentacene, etc.) will be patterned into 2D structures, where carrier injection from evaporated metal electrodes will control the resulting device conductivity, metal-insulator transition, plasma frequency and superconductivity properties at low temperature. Theoretical work will guide the experimental research studies. The project is an interdisciplinary collaborative effort among researchers in Physics, Electrical Engineering and Materials Science with collaborators from Honeywell Inc.%%% The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science, physics, and electrical engineering with high technological relevance. An important feature of the program is the integration of research and education through the training of students in a fundamentally and technologically significant area. The wide range of fabrication, experimental and theoretical physics methods and applications employed throughout the project will enhance the educational opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. ***