Development of metasurface for optoelectronic applications

纳米光子学近年来经历了巨大的增长，并将在不久的将来对社会和经济产生变革性的影响。全球纳米光子市场正以超过43%的速度增长，预计将从2016年的77.2亿美元增加到2022年的660.3亿美元[1]。这种令人兴奋的增长和机遇伴随着新的挑战。传统的光学器件本质上是非平面的、大的和笨重的，并且不能使用平面制造技术来实现。传统光学的这些固有局限性限制了其在许多应用中的实用性。超表面是一种新的光学设计概念，可以克服这些限制。超表面由平面亚波长元件组成，并提供了前所未有的控制成型的光的流动和它的属性。具有宽范围相位可调谐性的可调谐且高效的元表面将彻底改变许多新兴技术，包括用于自动驾驶车辆的LIDAR，自适应光学和全息术。尽管全世界都在努力研究，但这样的超表面还没有被报道。本申请中概述的研究计划旨在设计和实验演示这样的元表面，并探索其在各种实际应用中的应用。该计划的成功将是纳米光子学的范式转变，并为商业应用开辟了许多机会，同时也推进了我们在亚波长尺度上光-物质相互作用的知识。目前，在开发具有适合实际需要的性能的光学超颖表面方面存在激烈的全球竞争。虽然加拿大在纳米光子研究方面有着丰富的传统，但在这场竞争中却严重落后。加拿大迫切需要在这一迅速发展的领域加强研究和技术开发工作。拟议的研究将有助于建立加拿大作为一个领导者在这一新兴的分支纳米光子学研究。它还将为学生提供一个理想的培训场所，这些学生将获得光子设计，纳米纤维和光学器件表征方面的实践经验，并成为加拿大光子行业劳动力的重要成员。

Nanophotonics has experienced tremendous growth in recent years, and will have transformational impact on the society and economy in the near future. The global nanophotonic market is growing at a rate of more than 43%, and is expected to increase from $7.72 billion in 2016 to $66.03 billion by 2022 [1]. This exciting growth and opportunity come with new challenges. Conventional optical devices are inherently nonplanar, large and bulky, and cannot be implemented using planar fabrication technology. These inherent limitations of traditional optics restrict its usefulness in many applications. Metasurface is a new optical design concept that can overcome these limitations. Metasurface consists of planar subwavelength elements, and provides unprecedented control on molding the flow of light and its properties. A tunable and efficient metasurface with wide range of phase tunability will revolutionize many emerging technologies including LIDAR for autonomous vehicles, adaptive optics and holography. Despite worldwide intense research effort, such a metasurface is yet to be reported. The program of research outlined in this application aims to design and experimentally demonstrate such a metasurface, and explore its applications for various practical applications. Success of this program will be a paradigm shift for nanophotonics, and open up many opportunities for commercial applications while also advancing our knowledge of light-matter interaction at subwavelength scale.******Currently there is an intense global competition to develop optical metasurfaces with performance suitable for practical needs. Although Canada has a rich tradition of nanophotonic research, it is seriously lagging behind in this competition. There is an urgent need for ramping up the research and technology development effort in Canada in this rapidly advancing field. The proposed research will help establish Canada as a leader in this emerging branch of nanophotonics research. It will also provide an ideal training ground for students who will gain hands-on experience in photonic design, nanofabrication and characterization of optical devices, and become valuable members of the Canadian photonic industry workforce.**