High‐Quality,Ultraconformal Aluminum‐Doped Zinc Oxide Nanoplasmonic and Hyperbolic Metamaterials

Aluminum‐doped zinc oxide (AZO) is a tunable low‐loss plasmonic material capable of supporting dopant concentrations high enough to operate at telecommunication wavelengths. Due to its ultrahigh conformality and compatibility with semiconductor processing, atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a powerful tool for many plasmonic applications. However, despite many attempts, high‐quality AZO with a plasma frequency below 1550 nm has not yet been realized by ALD. Here a simple procedure is devised to tune the optical constants of AZO and enable plasmonic activity at 1550 nm with low loss. The highly conformal nature of ALD is also exploited to coat silicon nanopillars to create localized surface plasmon resonances that are tunable by adjusting the aluminum concentration, thermal conditions, and the use of a ZnO buffer layer. The high‐quality AZO is then used to make a layered AZO/ZnO structure that displays negative refraction in the telecommunication wavelength region due to hyperbolic dispersion. Finally, a novel synthetic scheme is demonstrated to create AZO embedded nanowires in ZnO, which also exhibits hyperbolic dispersion.     

Computational Parametric Analysis of Cellular Solids with the Miura-Ori Metamaterial Geometry under Quasistatic Compressive Loads

Origami-based metamaterials have widespread application prospects in various industries including aerospace, automotive, flexible electronics, and civil engineering structures. Among the wide range of origami patterns, the fourfold tessellation known as Miura-ori is of particular attraction to engineers and designers. More specifically, researchers have proposed different 3D structures and metamaterials based on the geometric characteristics of this classic origami pattern. Herein, a computational modeling approach for the design and evaluation of 3D cellular solids with the Miura-ori metamaterial geometry which can be of zero or nonzero thicknesses is presented. To this end, first, a range of design alternatives generated based on a numerical parametric model is designed. Next, their mechanical properties and failure behavior under quasistatic axial compressive loads along three perpendicular directions are analyzed. Then, the effects of various geometric parameters on their energy absorption behavior under compression in the most appropriate direction are investigated. The findings of this study provide a basis for future experimental investigations and the potential application of such cellular solids for energy-absorbing purposes.     

Development and progress in acoustic phase-gradient metamaterials for wavefront modulation

Acoustic metamaterials (AMs) for sound wave manipulation have attracted significant attention due to their fascinating functionalities, such as anomalous reflection/refraction, acoustic cloaking, sound absorption, acoustic imaging, etc. The acoustic phase-gradient metamaterials possess the capability of wavefront manipulation, thus, are fundamental to designing these fascinating functionalities. The underlying mechanism is controlling the acoustic responses (the phase and/or amplitude) of the units by varying the parameters so that one can redirect the wavefront in the desired manner. In this article, we review the state-of-the-art on development of phase-gradient metamaterials for wavefront manipulation. The governing principles of the phase-gradient metamaterials for wave control in static and moving media are first introduced. Then, according to the unit type, the phase-gradient metamaterials are roughly classified into three categories: the locally resonant structures, the space-coiling structures and the material-filling structures. Afterwards, three representative functionalities of the gradient metamaterials are reviewed, including acoustic cloaking, sound absorption/isolation and acoustic lens. Finally, the limitations of present metamaterials and possible future directions for development are concluded.     

人工局域表面等离子体中环偶极子耦合效应研究

为了研究微波频率下人工局域表面等离子体中环偶极子的激励和耦合效应,设计了双层紧凑型金属圆盘结构.该金属圆盘结构由双层单裂谐振环阵列及介质板组成.采用微波激发该结构上层环偶极子模式,再利用介质板耦合到下层环偶极子,实现环偶极子级联耦合.通过调整上下谐振环的阵列数量,谐振口的大小以及中间介质板的介电系数的变化,获得双层阵列...     

Engineering Plasmonic Gold Nanostructures and Metamaterials for Biosensing and Nanomedicine

The fields of biosensing and nanomedicine have recently witnessed an explosion of interest and progress in the design and study of plasmonic Au nanostructures (p‐AuNSs) or metamaterials geared towards a broad range of biological and biomedical applications. Due to their tunable and versatile plasmonic properties, such artificially engineered p‐AuNSs and materials have the potential to push biosensor sensitivity towards the single‐molecule detection limit, enabling new bioimaging modalities and new analytical techniques and tools capable of single‐molecule detection, analysis and manipulation, and to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, including cancers. This report summarizes and highlights recent major advances in the emerging field of bioapplication‐oriented engineering of p‐AuNSs and hybrids, focusing on design considerations and ways to carry them out. A brief overview of the optical properties of p‐AuNSs is introduced, and then the importance of plasmonic engineering and future promising research directions and challenges in the field are discussed.     

A 3D optical metamaterial made by self-assembly

Optical metamaterials have unusual optical characteristics that arise from their periodic nanostructure. Their manufacture requires the assembly of 3D architectures with structure control on the 10-nm length scale. Such a 3D optical metamaterial, based on the replication of a self-assembled block copolymer into gold, is demonstrated. The resulting gold replica has a feature size that is two orders of magnitude smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Its optical signature reveals an archetypal Pendry wire metamaterial with linear and circular dichroism.