New Plasmonic Platforms for Nanophotonics: PT-symmetry, Geometry, and Dimensionality

光的控制和操纵是一个长期存在的科学抱负，对技术的发展有着深远的影响。纳米光子学为实现这一目标提供了一条有希望的途径，它基于开发与光波长相当的尺寸结构。该项目将通过研究以前未在金属纳米结构背景下探索的新概念和新系统，为该领域带来新的视角。这些都与这些纳米结构的组成、几何和维度有关，包括对显示平衡增益和损失水平的系统的研究，排列成复杂几何形状的纳米结构的集成，以及具有原子厚度的元素。除了有助于对大量新物理现象的基本理解外，这项研究还将为在纳米尺度上操纵光的新机制的发展奠定基础，这是实现下一代纳米光子应用的关键。这项工作还将通过培养纳米光子学这一高度多学科领域的研究生和本科生而产生教育影响。我们将努力吸引来自新墨西哥州代表性不足的少数群体的学生，他们对从事STEM学科的职业感兴趣。该研究的强大计算组件将使这些学生接触到最先进的计算方法和设备，从而拓宽他们未来在研究、学术界和工业界的工作机会。该提案的总体目标是在等离子体学中开辟新的研究途径，从而导致纳米光子学中新应用的发展。为了实现这一目标，一系列尚未探索的概念将影响金属纳米结构的组成、几何排列和尺寸。动机是双重的：首先，了解这些新物理现象的基本原理，其次，利用这些知识来开发具有超越传统结构的能力的等离子体系统，可以用来操纵衍射极限以下的光。调查将分为三个平行的研究路径，将解决以下具体目标：(1)研究奇偶时间对称等离子体纳米结构，以实现强不对称响应，可用于获得对电磁场的新水平控制；(2)了解等离子体纳米结构复杂排列的几何结构如何产生强局域、长寿命的等离子体共振，并增强近场和远场响应；(3)研究低维纳米结构响应的独特特性，并利用其创建超紧凑等离子体平台。

The control and manipulation of light is a long-standing scientific ambition with profound implications for the development of technology. Nanophotonics offers a promising route to achieve this goal based on exploiting structures with dimensions comparable to the wavelength of light. This project will bring a new perspective to the field by investigating new concepts and systems that have not been previously explored in the context of metallic nanostructures. These are associated with the composition, geometry, and dimensionality of these nanostructures, and include the study of systems displaying a balanced level of gain and loss, ensembles of nanostructures arranged in complex geometries, and elements with atomic thicknesses. In addition to contributing to the fundamental understanding of a plethora of new physical phenomena, this research effort will set the foundations for the development of new mechanisms to manipulate light at the nanoscale, which is the key to realizing the next generation of nanophotonic applications. This work will also have an educational impact through the training of graduate and undergraduate students in the highly multidisciplinary field of nanophotonics. A strong effort will be made to attract students from underrepresented minority groups in New Mexico interested in pursuing careers in STEM disciplines. The strong computational component of the proposed research will serve to expose these students to state-of-the-art computational methods and facilities, thus serving to broaden their future job opportunities in research, academia, and industry. The overarching goal of this proposal is to open new research paths in plasmonics that can lead to the development of new applications in nanophotonics. To achieve that goal, a range of unexplored concepts affecting the composition, geometrical arrangement, and dimensionality of metallic nanostructures will be explored. The motivation is twofold: first, to understand the fundamentals of these new physical phenomena and, second, to exploit that knowledge to develop plasmonic systems with capabilities beyond those of conventional structures that can be used to manipulate light below the diffraction limit. The investigation will be structured in three parallel research paths that will address the following specific goals: (1) investigate parity-time symmetric plasmonic nanostructures to achieve strongly asymmetric responses that can be used to gain new levels of control over the electromagnetic field, (2) understand how the geometry of complex arrangements of plasmonic nanostructures can produce strongly localized, long-lived plasmonic resonances with enhanced near- and far-field responses, and (3) study the unique characteristics of the response of low-dimensional nanostructures and exploit them to create ultracompact plasmonic platforms.