New Plasmonic Platforms for Nanophotonics: PT-symmetry, Geometry, and Dimensionality

对光的控制和操纵是一个长期的科学抱负，对技术的发展具有深远的影响。纳米光子学提供了一个很有前途的路线，以实现这一目标的基础上，利用与光波长的尺寸相当的结构。该项目将通过研究以前在金属纳米结构方面没有探索过的新概念和系统，为该领域带来新的视角。这些都与这些纳米结构的组成，几何形状和维度，并包括系统显示的增益和损失的平衡水平，在复杂的几何形状排列的纳米结构的合奏，和原子厚度的元素的研究。除了有助于对大量新物理现象的基本理解外，这项研究工作还将为开发在纳米级操纵光的新机制奠定基础，这是实现下一代纳米光子应用的关键。这项工作也将通过在纳米光子学的高度多学科领域的研究生和本科生的培训产生教育影响。将大力吸引来自新墨西哥州代表性不足的少数民族的学生，他们有兴趣从事STEM学科的职业。拟议研究的强大计算部分将有助于使这些学生接触到最先进的计算方法和设施，从而拓宽他们未来在研究，学术界和工业界的就业机会。该提案的总体目标是在等离子体中开辟新的研究路径，从而导致纳米光子学新应用的发展。为了实现这一目标，将探索一系列影响金属纳米结构的组成，几何排列和维度的未探索的概念。动机有两个方面：首先，了解这些新物理现象的基本原理，其次，利用这些知识开发等离子体系统，其能力超出传统结构，可用于在衍射极限以下操纵光。调查将分为三个平行的研究路径，以解决以下具体目标：（1）研究宇称-时间对称等离子体纳米结构以实现可用于获得对电磁场的新水平的控制的强非对称响应，（2）理解等离子体纳米结构的复杂布置的几何形状如何能够产生强局部化，具有增强的近场和远场响应的长寿命等离子体共振，以及（3）研究低维纳米结构的响应的独特特性，并利用它们来创建超紧凑等离子体平台。

The control and manipulation of light is a long-standing scientific ambition with profound implications for the development of technology. Nanophotonics offers a promising route to achieve this goal based on exploiting structures with dimensions comparable to the wavelength of light. This project will bring a new perspective to the field by investigating new concepts and systems that have not been previously explored in the context of metallic nanostructures. These are associated with the composition, geometry, and dimensionality of these nanostructures, and include the study of systems displaying a balanced level of gain and loss, ensembles of nanostructures arranged in complex geometries, and elements with atomic thicknesses. In addition to contributing to the fundamental understanding of a plethora of new physical phenomena, this research effort will set the foundations for the development of new mechanisms to manipulate light at the nanoscale, which is the key to realizing the next generation of nanophotonic applications. This work will also have an educational impact through the training of graduate and undergraduate students in the highly multidisciplinary field of nanophotonics. A strong effort will be made to attract students from underrepresented minority groups in New Mexico interested in pursuing careers in STEM disciplines. The strong computational component of the proposed research will serve to expose these students to state-of-the-art computational methods and facilities, thus serving to broaden their future job opportunities in research, academia, and industry. The overarching goal of this proposal is to open new research paths in plasmonics that can lead to the development of new applications in nanophotonics. To achieve that goal, a range of unexplored concepts affecting the composition, geometrical arrangement, and dimensionality of metallic nanostructures will be explored. The motivation is twofold: first, to understand the fundamentals of these new physical phenomena and, second, to exploit that knowledge to develop plasmonic systems with capabilities beyond those of conventional structures that can be used to manipulate light below the diffraction limit. The investigation will be structured in three parallel research paths that will address the following specific goals: (1) investigate parity-time symmetric plasmonic nanostructures to achieve strongly asymmetric responses that can be used to gain new levels of control over the electromagnetic field, (2) understand how the geometry of complex arrangements of plasmonic nanostructures can produce strongly localized, long-lived plasmonic resonances with enhanced near- and far-field responses, and (3) study the unique characteristics of the response of low-dimensional nanostructures and exploit them to create ultracompact plasmonic platforms.