Negative Refractive Index

技术描述：我们将开发数学模型和计算工具来分析纳米材料中的光学共振现象。这项研究将集中在光场与金属纳米粒子的共振相互作用以及具有双共振(电场和磁场)的光学材料中的负折射率现象。我们将研究材料和光激发的非线性耦合及其应用。传统的共振光学仅限于利用原子系统来探索电场的共振，它通过引入激光来革命科学和技术。目前纳米材料制造的发展使得增加一个额外的共振相互作用成为可能，即磁场与嵌入的纳米结构的相互作用。这将把负折射率等奇异性质带入光域。使用描述双共振相互作用的一致导出方程来研究这种材料的性质是很重要的。这比简单地包含介电常数和磁导率的负值更具挑战性。我们将从第一性原理出发描述光学双共振现象，并分析它的物理后果，包括负折射率。我们还将分析双共振材料中的非线性光学的经典现象。我们对超短脉冲的初步研究已经表明，对于非常简单的纳米材料，利用相位进行光学控制是可行的，包括捕获光。广泛的影响：该项目将对基础科学做出重要贡献。它可以在材料科学和高性能计算中得到应用。这项工作的主要目标之一是负折射率材料。这些材料可能具有很大的实用价值。优化这种材料的设计将是我们研究的核心成果，需要对光和这种纳米结构相互作用的性质有基本的了解。负折射率材料的一个比较重要的应用是超透镜。与目前的性能相比，这种透镜可以大大改善光的聚焦性能。这将使使用光刻技术生产的电子元件具有更高的密度和更精细的特性，从而大大提高计算能力和降低成本。此外，其他类型的纳米光学材料可能导致信封逻辑器件和短期存储缓冲器。设计者的光学材料非常接近实现；只有理解基本的物理和数学模型，它们的全部潜力才能实现。

Technical description: We will develop mathematical models andcomputational tools to analyze optical resonance phenomena innanostructured materials. The proposed research will focus on resonantinteraction of optical fields with metallic nanoparticles and onnegative refractive index phenomena in optical materials with doubleresonance (electric and magnetic field). We will study nonlinearcoupling of material and light excitations and their applications.Traditional resonant optics which is limited to exploiting resonanceof electric fields with atomic systems revolutionized science andtechnology by introducing lasers. Current development in nanomaterialfabrication makes it possible to add an additional resonantinteraction, that of a magnetic field with the embedded nanostructure.This brings exotic properties such as negative refractive index intothe optical domain. It is important to study the properties of suchmaterials using consistently derived equations that describe thedoubly resonant interaction. This is considerably more challengingthan simply including negative values for permittivity andpermeability. We will develop a description of the optical doubleresonance phenomena starting from first principles and analyze itsphysical consequences including negative refractive index. We willalso analyze the classical phenomena of nonlinear optics in doublyresonant materials. Our pilot research with ultra-short pulses hasalready shown that for very simple nanomaterials, optical controlusing phase, including trapping of light is feasible.Broader impact: This project will make important contributions to basic science. It can lead to applications in materials science andto high performance computing. One of the principle targets of thework is negative refractive index material. These materials could beof great practical value. Optimization of the design of suchmaterials will be a central result of our research and requires afundamental understanding of the nature of the interaction of lightand such nano-structures. One of the more important applications fornegative refractive index materials is superlenses. Such a lenspermits much improved focusing of light compared to currentcapabilities. This would allow production of electronic componentsusing photolithography with much higher densities and finer featuresleading to greatly increased computation power and lower cost. Inaddition, other types of nano-optical materials can lead to noveloptical logic devices and short term memory buffers. Designer opticalmaterials are very close to realization; their full potential willonly be realized if the fundamental physical and mathematical modelsare understood.