Tunable Plasmonic Devices Enabled by Holographically-Formed Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals

摘要目的：本项目旨在通过对全息形成的聚合物分散液晶（h - pdlc）的折射率进行电调谐来解决可调谐等离子体器件设计和制造的挑战。可调谐等离子体纳米天线和可重构表面等离子体极化（SPP）器件将使用变换光学和细胞液晶进行研究。由此产生的可调谐等离子体器件将具有快速调谐速度和灵活的功能，可用于实际应用。智力优势：所提出的可调谐等离子体器件依赖于h - pdlc，其具有电调谐能力，可以通过纳米制造技术制造。这与传统的等离子体器件形成鲜明对比，后者通常是不可调谐的，这限制了它们在光学系统中的应用。此外，所提出的均匀梯度索引h - pdlc为我们设计不同的调谐结构提供了很大的灵活性。将这些结构与器件设计技术相结合，将产生许多新的可调谐等离子体器件。更广泛的影响：基于H-PDLC的可调谐等离子体器件的成功设计和制造将对未来民用和军事领域的光学系统产生重大影响。特别是，它们将在传感、成像、能量收集和通信系统等领域得到应用。其他影响领域包括：(1)提高学生研究人员的光学器件研究和教育经验；(2)高中学生在科学技术领域的参与度有所提高，但代表性不足；(3)通过讲习班、研讨会和出版物迅速传播研究成果。

Tunable Plasmonic Devices Enabled by Holographically-Formed Polymer DispersedLiquid CrystalsAbstractObjective: The goal of this project is to address the challenge for the design and fabrication oftunable plasmonic devices through the electrical tuning of refractive index in holographicallyformedpolymer dispersed liquid-crystals (H-PDLCs). Both tunable plasmonic nano-antennasand reconfigurable surface plasmon polariton (SPP) devices will be investigated usingtransformation optics and cellular liquid crystals. The resulting tunable plasmonic devices willfeature fast tuning speed and flexible function for practical applications.Intellectual Merit: The proposed tunable plasmonic devices rely on the H-PDLCs, whichfeature electrical tuning capability and can be fabricated by the nano-fabrication technique. Thisis in contrast to the conventional plasmonic devices that are usually non-tunable, which haslimited their applications in optical systems. Moreover, the proposed uniform and gradient indexH-PDLCs provide us with large flexibility in designing different tuning structures. Combiningthese structures with device design techniques will lead to many new tunable plasmonic devices.Broader Impact: The successful design and fabrication of proposed H-PDLC based tunableplasmonic devices will have a large impact on future optical systems for uses in both civilian andmilitary sectors. Especially, they will find applications in the areas of sensing, imaging, energyharvesting, and communication systems. Other areas of impact include the following: (1)enhancement of optical devices research and education experiences for student researchers; (2)increased participation of high school students, and underrepresented groups in science andtechnology; (3) rapid dissemination of research results through workshops, seminars, andpublications.