Reconfigurable flat optics

本研究的目的是开发一种新型的可重构平板光学元件，它能够动态地将光学波前塑造成任意形状，具有亚波长分辨率和快速的特点。它专注于技术上重要的中红外光谱范围(波长2-30微米)，这是唯一的定位，以解决一些重要的安全，健康和环境问题。这种方法是利用石墨烯等在中红外波段具有可调光学导电性的有源介质来移动等离子体天线的共振，导致散射光的幅度和相位发生较大且可控的变化。通过组装可调谐等离子体天线阵列将产生平面光学元件。这项研究的智能优点在于它解决了光学调制的基本问题：如何在给定一定的材料扰动的情况下获得光的幅度和相位的显著且可调的变化。这一计划的更广泛影响在于教育、推广和中红外线技术的影响。该项目通过实验室培训和研究，为所有级别的学生提供独特的设备设计、建模、制造和表征方面的教育机会。该项目还将促进科学家和艺术家之间的合作，制作更容易为公众所了解的科学发现的艺术插图。在该项目中开发的设备原型将在中红外光测距和检测、自由空间通信、安全筛选和生物医学成像等方面具有巨大的应用前景。

The objective of this research is to develop a new class of reconfigurable flat optical components that are able to dynamically mold optical wavefronts into arbitrary shapes with subwavelength resolution and fast speed. It focuses on the technologically important mid-infrared spectral range (wavelength 2-30?Ým), which is uniquely positioned to solve a number of important issues in security, health, and environment. The approach is to use active medium such as graphene, which has tunable optical conductivity in the mid-infrared, to shift the resonance of plasmonic antennas, leading to large and controllable changes to the amplitude and phase of the scattered light. Flat optical components will be created by assembling arrays of tunable plasmonic antennas.The intellectual merit of this research is that it addresses the fundamental problem of optical modulation: how to obtain considerable and tunable changes to the amplitude and phase of light, given a certain material perturbation. The broader impacts of this program lie in education, outreach, and implication for mid-infrared technology. The program provides unique educational opportunities in device design, modeling, fabrication and characterization for students of all levels through lab training and research. The program will also promote a collaborative effort between scientists and artists in producing artistic illustrations of scientific discoveries that are more accessible to the general public. The device prototypes developed in this program will have great promise for a variety of applications, such as mid-infrared light ranging and detection, free-space communication, security screening, and biomedical imaging.