Metasurface-enabled beam shaping for sustainable super-resolution focusing devices
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
For decades the controlling of light matter interaction has been of great interest to both the scientific and the industrial communities. The propagation of waves can be manipulated through the use of various materials and/or geometries of the medium where the wave is propagating.
Since the early 2000's metamaterials (MTMs) and their 2D counterpart, metasurfaces (MTSs), have been proposed as a means of achieving electromagnetic (EM) responses which natural materials are not capable of achieving (Engeta N, 2006). However, despite these unnatural effects they are inspired by nature being composed of periodically arranged small metallic-dielectric geometries which are smaller than the incident wavelength. This results in the wave observing a homogeneous medium rather than the individual geometries used to create them. This enables the ability to tailor the EM properties of such artificial media by properly engineering the materials, arrangement and geometries used. In doing so, the use of MTMS and MTSs opens new paths to improve the performance of devices in a wide range of applications such as antennas and sensors.
In this realm, the development of MTMs has been of great benefit to focusing devices such as lens-antennas and imaging applications. However, such applications have been hindered due to their narrow band designs. This causes them to be difficult for applications where broadband responses are required. Nowadays, there is a worldwide commitment to design devices as much reliable as possible and with reconfigurable properties. This is due to the fact that there is a growing amount of e-waste (electronic waste) being produced globally because of the materials involved in their design: mainly metals and dielectrics (plastics, ceramics etc.). These materials take a considerable time to degrade, from hundreds to thousands of years. In this context, MTMs and MTSs suffer from the same issue because they are basically made with the same raw materials. Therefore, it is important to address the possibility of environmental issues in the early stages of development of these artificial electromagnetic media at this stage where they are still under development.
This project will be inspired by the exciting opportunities presented by the incredibly broad uses of MTMs and MTSs and working to make them reconfigurable while using sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies. I will be studying the governing physics laws with regards to metamaterials to gain an understanding of the EM responses required and then designing these materials to be demonstrated experimentally. All the while a wide range of reconfigurable and sustainable materials will be tested for their application into these designs as to alleviate the issues of technological waste. This will lead to the development of ultra-compact, low-costing and super-resolution imaging applications using biodegradable materials while having the capability of being reconfigured. These imaging applications will be developed at different frequency ranges with emphasis to the Terahertz frequency range due the opportunities it offers to fields such as high-speed communications and biomedical imaging.
Since the early 2000's metamaterials (MTMs) and their 2D counterpart, metasurfaces (MTSs), have been proposed as a means of achieving electromagnetic (EM) responses which natural materials are not capable of achieving (Engeta N, 2006). However, despite these unnatural effects they are inspired by nature being composed of periodically arranged small metallic-dielectric geometries which are smaller than the incident wavelength. This results in the wave observing a homogeneous medium rather than the individual geometries used to create them. This enables the ability to tailor the EM properties of such artificial media by properly engineering the materials, arrangement and geometries used. In doing so, the use of MTMS and MTSs opens new paths to improve the performance of devices in a wide range of applications such as antennas and sensors.
In this realm, the development of MTMs has been of great benefit to focusing devices such as lens-antennas and imaging applications. However, such applications have been hindered due to their narrow band designs. This causes them to be difficult for applications where broadband responses are required. Nowadays, there is a worldwide commitment to design devices as much reliable as possible and with reconfigurable properties. This is due to the fact that there is a growing amount of e-waste (electronic waste) being produced globally because of the materials involved in their design: mainly metals and dielectrics (plastics, ceramics etc.). These materials take a considerable time to degrade, from hundreds to thousands of years. In this context, MTMs and MTSs suffer from the same issue because they are basically made with the same raw materials. Therefore, it is important to address the possibility of environmental issues in the early stages of development of these artificial electromagnetic media at this stage where they are still under development.
This project will be inspired by the exciting opportunities presented by the incredibly broad uses of MTMs and MTSs and working to make them reconfigurable while using sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies. I will be studying the governing physics laws with regards to metamaterials to gain an understanding of the EM responses required and then designing these materials to be demonstrated experimentally. All the while a wide range of reconfigurable and sustainable materials will be tested for their application into these designs as to alleviate the issues of technological waste. This will lead to the development of ultra-compact, low-costing and super-resolution imaging applications using biodegradable materials while having the capability of being reconfigured. These imaging applications will be developed at different frequency ranges with emphasis to the Terahertz frequency range due the opportunities it offers to fields such as high-speed communications and biomedical imaging.
Organisations
| Description | The primary focus of the work up to this point has been in the field of photonics at telecommunication wavelengths with the majority being in plasmonics and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). SPPs are surface waves that occur at the interface between a metal and a dielectric when electromagnetic light couples with the conduction electrons of the metal producing coherent collective oscillations. These waves offer exciting opportunities in a wide array of applications such as focusing, sensing, nanoantennas, optical forces, and plasmonic circuitry due to their compactness and data-carrying capacity. The work I have been doing is finding methods of controlling and manipulating SPPs. This has to led to a manuscript I wrote titled 'plasmonic meniscus lenses'. This shows the work I did in adapting a classical optics technique to be used in plasmonics and then designing and evaluating plasmonic meniscus lenses which up to that point had not been done. I also collaborated with members of my research group to develop a phenomenon known as 'photonic hooks' which are bent foci produced by properly engineered two dielectric structures illuminated by a planewave. These hooks are exciting candidates in applications such as sensing and optical trapping. I am currently working on implementing these into plasmonics. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings in plasmonics and photonics are first principle ways of controlling and manipulating SPPs and light which can be implemented into more complex situations i the future such as sensors, circuits among many different applications |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics |