Self-Assembling Volumetric Optical Metamaterials

非技术概述：纳米技术的一个核心挑战是将丰富的自然产生的材料转化为具有所需性能的高性能材料。逆向设计是创造具有非凡光学性能(如不可见性)的材料的一种方法。在这种方法中，计算机算法只将沙子和空气等两种材料组合成具有所需光学特性的微小三维结构。然而，由此产生的设计极其复杂，使得它们的制作极其困难和昂贵。本项目旨在开发一种简便的合成具有特殊光学性质的材料的新方法。研究人员将开发一种新的纳米级合成方法，利用DNA非凡的可编程性来构建以前仅存在于理论上的3D结构。纳米级的粒子将被带有精确序列和位置的DNA链装饰，诱导它们自我组装成“反向设计”的结构。研究小组将对这些新材料进行表征，并探索它们如何在高性能设备中使用。拟议的研究将产生一种通用的方法来设计和合成具有前所未有的可扩展性和精确度的材料，同时消除对昂贵和不可持续的纳米制造设施的需求。国际学生协会致力于促进不同年龄段的学生对新方法的创造性和采纳力。为此，建议的研究概念将通过涵盖高中、大学和研究生水平的指导和推广活动来传播。技术摘要：该项目的总体目标是开发一种方法，将纳米级介电和等离子体“材料体素”自组装成在可见光谱中具有任意光子功能的体积超材料。这项研究将采用电磁逆向设计和DNA纳米技术领域中发展起来的强大概念，并将它们结合起来构建具有以前无法实现的光学功能的材料。通过在纳米级无机体素中嵌入DNA识别功能，将实现纳米级无机体素的自组装。需要解决的主要科学挑战是：(1)如何合成DNA功能化材料体素。将探索几种将DNA折纸的独特可寻址能力从2D DNA面包板转移到3D材料体素表面的方法。(2)如何将体素自组装成具有任意光子功能的微结构，如颜色分类。将开发几种策略来将DNA功能化的体素自组装成所需的纳米光子结构。(3)如何设计和表征多体素结构的光学函数。研究人员将在可见光和红外窗口中构建具有几种特定功能的体系结构，并对其进行表征。(4)如何在现有设备上精确放置光学元件。将探索所获得的架构与现有光电子器件平台的集成。最终目标是将自组装变成一种多功能、坚固和可获得的工具，用于实际构建光子材料和其他材料。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:A central challenge of nanotechnology is to convert abundant, naturally occurring materials into high performance materials with desired properties. Inverse design is one way to create materials with extraordinary optical properties such as invisibility. In this approach, a computer algorithm combines just two materials such as sand and air into tiny three-dimensional structures with the desired optical properties. However, the extreme complexity of resulting designs makes them extremely difficult and costly to make. This project aims to develop a new approach for facile synthesis of materials with special optical properties. The investigators will develop a new nanoscale synthesis approach that exploits the remarkable programmability of DNA to enable construction of 3D structures that previously existed only in theory. Nanoscale particles will be decorated with DNA strands with precise sequences and locations, inducing their self-assembly into “inversely designed” structures. The research team will characterize these new materials and explore how their use in high performance devices. The proposed research will yield a general approach to design and synthesize materials with unprecedented scalability and precision, while eliminating the need for expensive and unsustainable nanofabrication facilities. The PI is committed to empowering the creativity and adoption of the new approach by diverse students of all ages. Towards that end, the proposed research concepts will be disseminated via inclusive mentoring and outreach activities for students spanning high school, college, and graduate levels.TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The overarching goal of this project is to develop an approach to self-assemble nanoscale dielectric and plasmonic “material voxels” into volumetric metamaterials with arbitrary photonic functions in the visible spectrum. This research will take powerful concepts developed in the fields of electromagnetic inverse design and DNA nanotechnology and combines them to construct materials with previously unattainable optical functions. The self-assembly of nanoscale inorganic voxels will be achieved by embedding DNA recognition capabilities into them. The main scientific challenges to tackle are: (1) How to synthesize DNA-functionalized material voxels. Several ways to transfer the unique addressability of DNA origami from a 2D DNA-only breadboard to a 3D material voxel surface will be explored. (2) How to self-assemble voxels into microstructures with arbitrary photonic functions such as color sorting. Several strategies to self-assemble the DNA-functionalized voxels into desired nanophotonic architectures will be developed. (3) How to design and characterize optical functions for multivoxel architectures. The investigators will construct architectures with several specific functions in visible and IR windows and characterize them. (4) How to precisely place optical elements onto existing devices. Integration of the obtained architectures with existing optoelectronic device platforms will be explored. The ultimate goal is to turn self-assembly into a versatile, robust, and accessible tool for practical construction of photonic materials and beyond.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.