Tunable Plasmonic Devices Enabled by Holographically-Formed Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals

利用全息聚合物分散液晶实现的可调谐等离子体激元器件摘要目的：本项目的目标是通过对全息聚合物分散液晶（H-PDLCs）折射率的电调谐来解决可调谐等离子体激元器件的设计和制造的挑战。可调谐等离子体纳米天线和可重构表面等离子体极化激元（SPP）器件将使用转换光学和细胞液晶进行研究。可调谐等离子体激元器件具有调谐速度快、功能灵活等特点，适合于实际应用。智力优势：本文提出的可调谐等离子体激元器件依赖于具有电调谐能力的H-PDLC，可以通过纳米加工技术制备。这与传统的等离子体激元器件形成了鲜明的对比，传统的等离子体激元器件通常是不可调谐的，这限制了它们在光学系统中的应用。此外，建议的均匀和梯度指数H-PDLC为我们提供了很大的灵活性，在设计不同的调谐结构。将这些结构与器件设计技术相结合将产生许多新的可调谐等离子体器件。更广泛的影响：成功设计和制造的H-PDLC为基础的可调谐等离子体器件将有很大的影响，未来的光学系统在民用和军事部门的使用。特别是，它们将在传感，成像，能量收集和通信系统领域中找到应用。其他影响领域包括：（1）增强学生研究人员的光学器件研究和教育经验;（2）增加高中生和代表性不足的群体对科学和技术的参与;（3）通过讲习班、研讨会和出版物迅速传播研究成果。

Tunable Plasmonic Devices Enabled by Holographically-Formed Polymer DispersedLiquid CrystalsAbstractObjective: The goal of this project is to address the challenge for the design and fabrication oftunable plasmonic devices through the electrical tuning of refractive index in holographicallyformedpolymer dispersed liquid-crystals (H-PDLCs). Both tunable plasmonic nano-antennasand reconfigurable surface plasmon polariton (SPP) devices will be investigated usingtransformation optics and cellular liquid crystals. The resulting tunable plasmonic devices willfeature fast tuning speed and flexible function for practical applications.Intellectual Merit: The proposed tunable plasmonic devices rely on the H-PDLCs, whichfeature electrical tuning capability and can be fabricated by the nano-fabrication technique. Thisis in contrast to the conventional plasmonic devices that are usually non-tunable, which haslimited their applications in optical systems. Moreover, the proposed uniform and gradient indexH-PDLCs provide us with large flexibility in designing different tuning structures. Combiningthese structures with device design techniques will lead to many new tunable plasmonic devices.Broader Impact: The successful design and fabrication of proposed H-PDLC based tunableplasmonic devices will have a large impact on future optical systems for uses in both civilian andmilitary sectors. Especially, they will find applications in the areas of sensing, imaging, energyharvesting, and communication systems. Other areas of impact include the following: (1)enhancement of optical devices research and education experiences for student researchers; (2)increased participation of high school students, and underrepresented groups in science andtechnology; (3) rapid dissemination of research results through workshops, seminars, andpublications.