NIRT: Optics on a nanoscale using polaritonic and plasmonic materials

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Intellectual merit: This project is an investigating of critical issues related to the coupling and control of optical energy on the nanoscale. Phonon-polaritonic materials such as SiC and TiO2 will be employed for mid-IR super-resolution imaging, which has the potential to revolutionize label-free detection of biological and chemical substances. Mid-IR imaging through water will be demonstrated, paving the way to in vivo imaging of nanoscale biological objects transported through nanofluidic channels. Active control of infrared properties of water will be demonstrated using the concept of Artificial Polaritonic Molecules that will be synthesized in emulsions and appropriately shaped to enable a strong resonant response. This new metamaterial based on colloidal plasmonic and polaritonic particles arranged into complex and controllable shapes will be used as an actively controlled component in applications such as infrared imaging and liquid-liquid waveguides. These waveguides guide light owing to the change in both electric permittivity and magnetic permeability. SiC tips as sharp as 20 nm or less will be fabricated. This will result in incredible energy concentration at the tips and make possible active nano-photonic devices.Broader impact: This research brings together collaborators from several areas of physics and engineering who have complimentary strengths in synthetic chemistry and chemical engineering, materials science and growth, device physics, optical characterization, and computational modeling. Significant outreach efforts to high school, undergraduate, and graduate Hispanic students in Texas are planned. Mentorship Networks will be established among minority students in the San Antonio/Austin area aimed at enhancing their interest and awareness of nanoscale science. As students advance from high school to college to graduate studies, they will mentor their junior counterparts.