Foundational and Applied Surface Plasmon Photonics

本研究项目致力于表面等离子激元光子学(等离子体子学)和超表面的研究。由于纳米制造技术的进步，许多悬而未决的问题的存在，以及等离子体和亚表面中发现的有趣的、有时甚至是独特的特性，为新的应用创造了机会，这些领域目前引起了人们的极大兴趣。这些领域是多学科的，吸引了电气工程师、材料工程师、物理学家和(生物)化学家。这项提议的目标是研究和展示将为未来的工作和工业合作奠定基础的基本和深远的想法。特别是，我们将研究：(A)奇偶时间(PT)对称和异常点(EP)器件，(B)纳米光电子学和高次谐波产生(HHG)，以及(C)多模式和活体生物传感器。重点放在表面等离激元和超表面起中心作用的概念上。科学方法包括符合我们目标的理论、设备纳米制造和实验的组合，如果要朝着我们的目标取得真正进展，这些方法是必不可少的。这项工作将被分成适合博士论文的包，为学生提供参与具有明显工业应用的令人兴奋的尖端研究的机会。几个合作者将在国内和国际(德国、韩国、马来西亚)参与该计划。理论和建模工作将使用内部和商业建模工具，在个人电脑、服务器和通过加拿大计算机系统访问的高性能计算机上进行。实验将在渥太华大学高级研究中心的世界级设施中进行，包括容纳最先进的纳米制造设施的新洁净室。开展本提案中描述的工作将带来突破性进展，并及时引起广大光子学、电信和传感器社区的浓厚兴趣。(A)PT对称性：在初步演示了基本PT对称函数之后，应用竞赛开始了，吸引了全球许多强大的研究小组。PT对称和特殊的点器件实现了前所未有的光学功能，可以定义下一代光网络，例如单向放大器、单向激光器和涡旋激光器，这些激光器产生携带轨道角动量的光。(B)在一个联系日益紧密的世界里，纳米级的光电子学对高速短距通信和数据中心通信至关重要。高次谐波有望成为相干高能光子的台式光源。(C)用于实时疾病检测的生物传感器可以对患者诊断和疾病管理产生重大影响，不仅在临床实验室，而且在护理地点。在大流行期间，在护理地点进行快速检测尤其重要。

This research program is devoted to the study of surface plasmon photonics (plasmonics) and metasurfaces. These fields are presently of very high interest due to advances in nano-fabrication techniques, the existence of many unresolved problems, and the interesting and sometimes unique peculiarities that are found in plasmonics and metasurfaces which create opportunities for new applications. These fields are multidisciplinary, attracting electrical engineers, materials engineers, physicists and (bio)chemists. The objectives of this proposal are to research and demonstrate fundamental and far-reaching ideas that will underpin future work and industrial collaborations. In particular we will investigate: (a) parity-time (PT) symmetric and exceptional-point (EP) devices, (b) nanoscale optoelectronics and high-harmonic generation (HHG), and (c) multimodal and in-vivo biosensors. Emphasis is placed on concepts where surface plasmons and metasurfaces play a central role. The scientific approaches comprise a mix of theory, device nanofabrication and experimentation appropriate to meeting our objectives, and essential if real advances toward our objectives are to be made. The work will be partitioned into packages suitable for doctoral theses, providing opportunities for students to participate in exciting, cutting-edge research having evident industrial applications. Several collaborators will be involved in the program, nationally and internationally (Germany, Korea, Malaysia). The theoretical and modelling work will be carried out using in-house and commercial modelling tools on PCs, servers and high-performance computers accessed via Compute Canada. The experimentation will be carried out in world-class facilities housed in the Advanced Research Complex at uOttawa, including new cleanrooms housing a state-of-the-art nanofabrication facility. Conducting the work described in this proposal will result in ground-breaking advances, timely and of strong interest to the broad photonics, telecom and sensor communities. (a) PT Symmetry: After initial demonstrations of basic PT-symmetric functions, the race to applications is on, attracting many powerful research groups around the globe. PT symmetric and exceptional point devices enable unprecedented optical functions that could define next generation optical networks, such as unidirectional amplifiers, unidirectional lasers, and vortex lasers that generate light carrying orbital angular momentum. (b) Optoelectronics at the nanoscale are of critical importance to high-speed short-reach communications and data-centre traffic in an increasingly connected world. High harmonics hold the promise of benchtop sources of coherent high energy photons. (c) Biosensors for real-time disease detection can have a major impact on patient diagnosis and disease management, not only in clinical labs, but also at the point of care. Rapid testing at the point-of-care is especially important during a pandemic.