NIRT: Optics on a nanoscale using polaritonic and plasmonic materials

智力价值：这个项目是一个与纳米级光能耦合和控制相关的关键问题的调查。声子极化激元材料，如SiC和TiO 2将用于中红外超分辨率成像，这有可能彻底改变生物和化学物质的无标记检测。将演示通过水的中红外成像，为通过纳米流体通道运输的纳米级生物物体的体内成像铺平道路。水的红外特性的主动控制将使用人工极化子分子的概念进行演示，该分子将在乳液中合成并适当成形以实现强共振响应。这种基于胶体等离子体和极化激元颗粒的新型超材料排列成复杂和可控的形状，将在红外成像和液-液波导等应用中用作主动控制组件。这些波导由于介电常数和导磁率的变化而引导光。将制造出尖锐度为20 nm或更小的SiC尖端。更广泛的影响：这项研究汇集了来自物理学和工程学多个领域的合作者，他们在合成化学和化学工程、材料科学和生长、器件物理、光学表征和计算建模方面具有互补优势。计划对德克萨斯州的高中、本科和研究生西班牙裔学生进行重大的外展工作。将在圣安东尼奥/奥斯汀地区的少数民族学生中建立导师网络，旨在提高他们对纳米科学的兴趣和认识。当学生从高中升入大学再到研究生学习时，他们将指导他们的低年级同学。

Intellectual merit: This project is an investigating of critical issues related to the coupling and control of optical energy on the nanoscale. Phonon-polaritonic materials such as SiC and TiO2 will be employed for mid-IR super-resolution imaging, which has the potential to revolutionize label-free detection of biological and chemical substances. Mid-IR imaging through water will be demonstrated, paving the way to in vivo imaging of nanoscale biological objects transported through nanofluidic channels. Active control of infrared properties of water will be demonstrated using the concept of Artificial Polaritonic Molecules that will be synthesized in emulsions and appropriately shaped to enable a strong resonant response. This new metamaterial based on colloidal plasmonic and polaritonic particles arranged into complex and controllable shapes will be used as an actively controlled component in applications such as infrared imaging and liquid-liquid waveguides. These waveguides guide light owing to the change in both electric permittivity and magnetic permeability. SiC tips as sharp as 20 nm or less will be fabricated. This will result in incredible energy concentration at the tips and make possible active nano-photonic devices.Broader impact: This research brings together collaborators from several areas of physics and engineering who have complimentary strengths in synthetic chemistry and chemical engineering, materials science and growth, device physics, optical characterization, and computational modeling. Significant outreach efforts to high school, undergraduate, and graduate Hispanic students in Texas are planned. Mentorship Networks will be established among minority students in the San Antonio/Austin area aimed at enhancing their interest and awareness of nanoscale science. As students advance from high school to college to graduate studies, they will mentor their junior counterparts.