Designer Photonic Lattices and Multilayer Structures that support Bound Optical Modes and Electrically-driven Excitation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Nontechnical descriptionMetal nanostructures can confine light into very small spaces near their surfaces and enable a diverse range of applications, from the color of stained glass in the Middle Ages to new classes of nanoscale-sized lasers. Understanding the optical properties of assemblies of metal nanoparticles is important to advance current light-based technologies. This project aims to design and fabricate new architectures based on multilayer nanoparticle arrays that can be optically excited and to realize nanoparticle-based devices that can be integrated with electrical circuits. The project will train a diverse research team of graduate and undergraduate students in optical device system design, fabrication, and characterization techniques in state-of-the-art facilities coupled with advanced theoretical modelling and science communication. The principal investigators actively recruit students from different backgrounds, which fosters inclusion, retention, and advancement of underrepresented and marginalized students. The research team hosts multiple educational outreach events on the Northwestern University campus to make light-based research accessible to younger students and to encourage them to consider careers in STEM-related fields.Technical descriptionMany-body phenomena such as superconductivity or light-induced ferromagnetism are a couple examples of the unique properties displayed by vertically stacked 2D materials that are absent in their monolayer form. Inspired by the exotic properties of 2D stacked electronic materials, this project aims to develop stacked and twisted plasmonic nanoparticle structures to explore: (1) how bound states in the continuum can enable macroscale, long-range light manipulation; (2) how stacked lattices couple out-of-plane and how their properties depend on relative twist angle; and (3) how electrical excitation of plasmonic lattices can be combined with 2D electronic materials to enable chip-based plasmonic systems. The design of sophisticated plasmonic lattice architectures is fundamental to understanding short- and long-range coupling of nanoparticle unit cells and can facilitate novel applications in functional photonic devices, such as mechanical manipulation and electrical pumping. The realization of electrical excitation of plasmons is of particular technological interest in order to bridge the gap between nanophotonic and microelectronic devices. Broader impacts of this project will build on knowledge gained for applications related to coherent emission, long-range energy transfer, and quantum coherence.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.