DMREF: Collaborative Research: Semiconductor Heterostructure Platform for Active Nonlocal Plasmonic and Hyperbolic Materials

非技术描述：多层复合材料旨在结合反射金属和透明电介质的特性，有可能彻底改变光学显微镜，控制分子发射，甚至使隐形斗篷成为可能。然而，到目前为止，利用多层结构实现的优势一直是有限的。减小膜层厚度、减少吸收和实现光学增益被认为是推动多层介质光学向其革命性潜力发展的一些可能的途径。在这个项目中，我们的合作团队将致力于通过精心设计的实验、计算和分析研究，了解强调多层复合材料光子学的自由电子等离子体的光学响应。特别令人感兴趣的将是量子力学效应有望显现的小层厚度的限制，以及光学增益和损耗之间的相互作用。该项目将为让学生参与跨学科研究提供新的机会，从而提高美国高科技劳动力的竞争力。小组成员还将开展一系列外展活动，以扩大适龄学生和本科生对STEM的参与。技术描述：等离子体超材料--由金属或高掺杂半导体元件产生的具有量身定制的光学响应的纳米结构复合材料--有望彻底改变我们对光-物质相互作用的理解，实现包括完美吸光器、隐形斗篷、亚波长成像、聚焦和引导在内的新应用。在这个项目中，该团队将对半导体层状超材料进行一项全面的跨学科研究，以期了解非均质中尺度等离子体系统中光-物质相互作用的基本原理。特别感兴趣的是(I)了解等离子体系统的光学响应，其中自由电荷的运动受几何限制，导致非局域电磁和(Ii)光在耦合的非局域纳米等离子体系统中的传播、发射和吸收的基本原理。发展的活性非局域等离子体描述将适用于在整个光谱范围内工作的多个材料平台。拟议的计划将为培养下一代跨学科劳动力提供多种机会，并将作为针对本科生、在校学生和学校教师的外联活动的平台。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Multilayered composites, designed to combine the properties of reflective metals and transparent dielectrics, have the potential to revolutionize optical microscopy, control emission of molecules, and even to enable cloaks of invisibility. However, until now the advantages achieved with multilayered structures have been limited. Decreasing layer thickness, reducing absorption, and implementing optical gain have been named as some of the possible ways to advance the optics of multilayered media towards its revolutionary potential. In this project, our collaborative team will aim to understand, through carefully designed experimental, computational, and analytical studies, the optical response of free-electron plasma that underlines the photonics of multilayered composites. Of particular interest will be the limits of small layer thickness where quantum-mechanical effects are expected to manifest themselves, and the interaction between optical gain and loss. The program will present new opportunities for engaging students in interdisciplinary research and thus improve competitiveness of the US high-tech workforce. The team members will also implement a number of outreach events to broaden participation of school-aged and undergraduate students in STEM. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Plasmonic metamaterials -- nanostructured composites with tailored optical response resulting from metallic or highly doped semiconducting components -- promise to revolutionize our understanding of light-matter interactions, enabling new applications that include perfect light absorbers, invisibility cloaks, sub-wavelength imaging, focusing, and guiding. In this project the team will perform a comprehensive interdisciplinary study of semiconductor layered metamaterials, with a vision towards understanding the fundamentals of light-matter interaction in heterogeneous mesoscale plasmonic systems. Of particular interest will be (i) understanding the optical response of plasmonic systems where the motion of the free charges is confined by the geometry, leading to nonlocal electromagnetism and to (ii) fundamentals of light propagation, emission, and absorption in coupled nonlocal nanoplasmonic systems. The developed description of active nonlocal plasmonics will be applicable to multiple material platforms operating throughout optical spectrum. The proposed program will provide multiple opportunities for educating the next-generation interdisciplinary workforce and will serve as a platform for outreach activities targeting undergraduates, school students, and school teachers.