Materials World Network: Collaborative Proposal: Understanding the Optical Response of Designer Epsilon Near Zero Materials

技术概述：了解和控制材料的光学性质有助于深入了解光-物质相互作用的基本原理。同时，这些能力为设计和开发光学科学的新应用奠定了基础。这个材料世界网络项目探索了光与具有极小介电常数的奇异材料结构相互作用背后的科学，这些材料结构也被称为epsilon-近零(Enz)材料，这些材料可能能够显著抑制光的衍射，并将准静态近似的适用性扩展到波长尺度系统。在这个项目中，研究人员将创建一个新颖的材料平台，用于设计ENZ介质，并将使用该平台来构建与ENZ相关的系统的光学分析描述。具体地说，我们将开发一套实验技术来横向控制我们材料的介电常数分布，目标是重要的可见光和红外频率范围。这些结构的光学表征将被用来为能够描述复杂的ENZ介质中的光-物质相互作用的新的数值和分析技术提供基础。预计这项工作的实验和理论结果都将在紫外光到太赫兹波长范围内的等离子体和超材料中得到更广泛的应用。参与该项目的学生将受益于与现代跨学科项目的独特接触，该项目结合了材料科学、化学、物理和应用数学，并涉及全球多个机构。非技术概述：光学科学越来越多地与我们日常生活的许多方面交织在一起，从光学通信到成像，再到健康、环境和安全相关应用中的广泛光学传感技术。新的光学材料具有独特的、但设计师允许的特性，有望进一步改善质量或我们的生活，或许同样重要的是，它提供了对我们宇宙的两个组成部分--光和物质--之间基本相互作用的更好理解。在这个材料世界网络项目中，一个国际团队将开发一种独特的新材料类别，被称为epsilon-近零材料，并分析这些材料与光的相互作用。这项研究有可能为融合光学和电子技术提供一个新的材料平台，将高速光通信的好处与集成电路的紧凑性结合在一起。与会者的专业互补将提供一个独特的机会，让参与的学生接触到现代跨学科国际合作，加强多学科和多文化交流。研究团队和更广泛的社区之间的互动将旨在增加新兴科学家对STEM相关学科的参与。该项目得到电子和光子材料计划和材料研究部特殊计划办公室的支持。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The understanding of, and control over, the optical properties of materials provides important insight into the fundamentals of light-matter interaction. At the same time, these capabilities serve as the foundation for the design and development of novel applications of optical science. This Materials World Network project explores the science behind the interaction of light with exotic material structures having vanishingly small dielectric permittivity, also known as epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, that are potentially able to dramatically suppress diffraction of light and to extend the applicability of the quasi-static approximation to wavelength-scale systems. In this project, the researchers will create a novel material platform of "designer" ENZ media and will use this platform for building an analytical description of the optics of ENZ-related systems. Specifically, a set of experimental techniques will be developed for subwavelength lateral control of the permittivity profile of our materials, targeting important visible and IR frequency ranges. Optical characterization of these structures will be used to provide the foundation for novel numerical and analytical techniques capable of describing the light-matter interaction in complex ENZ-based media. It is expected that both the experimental and theoretical results of this work will have broader application for plasmonic- and meta- materials across the UV to THz wavelength ranges. The students involved in the project will benefit from the unique exposure to modern interdisciplinary projects combining materials science, chemistry, physics, and applied mathematics, and involving multiple institutions across the globe. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Optical science is increasingly interwoven with many aspects of our everyday life, from optical communications, to imaging, to a broad range of optical sensing technologies in health-, environmental, and security-related applications. New optical materials, with unique, yet designer-enabled, properties, promise to further improve the quality or our life, and perhaps as importantly, provide a better understanding of the fundamental interaction between two building blocks of our Universe, light and matter. In this Materials World Network project, an international team will develop a unique new class of materials, known as epsilon-near-zero materials, and analyze the interaction of these materials with light. This research has the potential to provide a novel material platform for merging optics and electronics technologies, bringing together the benefits of high-speed optical communications with the compactness of integrated circuits. The complementary expertise of the participants will provide a unique opportunity to expose participating students to modern interdisciplinary international collaboration, enhancing multi-discipline and multi-cultural exchange. The interaction between the research teams and the broader community will aim at increasing the participation of emerging scientists in STEM-related disciplines.This project is supported by the Electronic and Photonic Materials program and Office of Special Programs, Division of Materials Research.