Publications

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Narrow-bandgap semiconductors such as alloys of InAsAlSb and their heterostructures are considered promising candidates for next generation infrared photodetectors and devices. The prospect of actively tuning the spectral responsivity of these detectors at the pixel level is very appealing. In principle, this could be achieved with a tunable metasurface fabricated monolithically on the detector pixel. Here, we present first steps towards that goal using a complementary metasurface strongly coupled to an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) mode operating in the long-wave region of the infrared spectrum. We fabricate such a coupled system using the same epitaxial layers used for infrared pixels in a focal plane array and demonstrate the existence of ENZ modes in high mobility layers of InAsSb. We confirm that the coupling strength between the ENZ mode and the metasurface depends on the ENZ layer thickness and demonstrate a transmission modulation on the order of 25%. We further show numerically the expected tunable spectral behavior of such coupled system under reverse and forward bias, which could be used in future electrically tunable detectors.

Narrow-bandgap semiconductors such as alloys of InAsAlSb and their heterostructures are considered promising candidates for next generation infrared photodetectors and devices. The prospect of actively tuning the spectral responsivity of these detectors at the pixel level is very appealing. In principle, this could be achieved with a tunable metasurface fabricated monolithically on the detector pixel. Here, we present first steps towards that goal using a complementary metasurface strongly coupled to an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) mode operating in the long-wave region of the infrared spectrum. We fabricate such a coupled system using the same epitaxial layers used for infrared pixels in a focal plane array and demonstrate the existence of ENZ modes in high mobility layers of InAsSb. We confirm that the coupling strength between the ENZ mode and the metasurface depends on the ENZ layer thickness and demonstrate a transmission modulation on the order of 25%. We further show numerically the expected tunable spectral behavior of such coupled system under reverse and forward bias, which could be used in future electrically tunable detectors.

Metamaterial dielectric resonators represent a promising path toward low-loss metamaterials at optical frequencies. In this paper we utilize perturbations of high symmetry resonator geometries, such as cubes, either to overlap the electric and magnetic dipole resonances, thereby enabling directional scattering and Huygens' metasurfaces, or to induce couplings between the otherwise orthogonal resonator modes to achieve high-quality factor Fano resonances. Our results are fully scalable across any frequency bands where high-permittivity dielectric materials are available, including microwave, THz, and infrared frequencies.

Nonlinear optical phenomena in nanostructured materials have been challenging our perceptions of nonlinear optical processes that have been explored since the invention of lasers. For example, the ability to control optical field confinement, enhancement, and scattering almost independently allows nonlinear frequency conversion efficiencies to be enhanced by many orders of magnitude compared to bulk materials. Also, the subwavelength length scale renders phase matching issues irrelevant. Compared with plasmonic nanostructures, dielectric resonator metamaterials show great promise for enhanced nonlinear optical processes due to their larger mode volumes. Here, we present, for the first time, resonantly enhanced second-harmonic generation (SHG) using gallium arsenide (GaAs) based dielectric metasurfaces. Using arrays of cylindrical resonators we observe SHG enhancement factors as large as 104 relative to unpatterned GaAs. At the magnetic dipole resonance, we measure an absolute nonlinear conversion efficiency of ∼2 × 10-5 with ∼3.4 GW/cm2 pump intensity. The polarization properties of the SHG reveal that both bulk and surface nonlinearities play important roles in the observed nonlinear process.

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Monocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO₂) micro-spheres support two orthogonal magnetic dipole modes at terahertz (THz) frequencies due to strong dielectric anisotropy. For the first time, we experimentally detected the splitting of the first Mie mode in spheres of radii inline imagem through near-field time-domain THz spectroscopy. By fitting the Fano lineshape model to the experimentally obtained spectra of the electric field detected by the sub-wavelength aperture probe, we found that the magnetic dipole resonances in TiO₂ spheres have narrow linewidths of only tens of gigahertz. Lastly, anisotropic TiO₂ micro-resonators can be used to enhance the interplay of magnetic and electric dipole resonances in the emerging THz all-dielectric metamaterial technology.

We demonstrate 2D and multilayer dielectric metamaterials made from III–V semiconductors using a monolithic fabrication process. The resulting structures could be used to recompress chirped femtosecond optical pulses and in a variety of other optical applications requiring low loss. Moreover, these III–V all-dielectric metamaterials could enable novel active applications such as efficient nonlinear frequency converters, light emitters, detectors, and modulators.

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A unique, micro-scale architecture is proposed to create a novel hybrid concentrated photovoltaic system. Micro-scale (sub-millimeter wide), multi-junction cells are attached to a large-area silicon cell backplane (several inches wide) that can optimally collect both direct and diffuse light. By using multi- junction III-V cells, we can get the highest possible efficiency of the direct light input. In addition, by collecting the diffuse light in the large-area silicon cell, we can produce power on cloudy days when the concentrating cells would have minimal output. Through the use of micro-scale cells and lenses, the overall assembly will provide higher efficiency than conventional concentrators and flat plates, while keeping the form factor of a flat plate module. This report describes the hybrid concept, the design of a prototype, including the PV cells and optics, and the experimental results.

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We present the temporal evolution of the terahertz (THz) field leading to the excitation of plasmonic resonances in carbon microfibers. The field evolution is mapped in space and time for the 3/2 wavelength resonance using a subwavelength aperture THz near-field probe with an embedded THz photoconductive detector. The excitation of surface waves at the fiber tips leads to the formation of a standing wave along the fiber. Local THz time-domain spectroscopy at one of the standing wave crests shows a clear third-order resonance peak at 1.65 THz, well described by the Lorentz model. This application of the subwavelength aperture THz near-field microscopy for mode mapping and local spectroscopy demonstrates the potential of near-field methods for studies of subwavelength plasmonic THz resonators.

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We study functional hybrid metasurfaces consisting of metal-dielectric nanoantennas that direct light from an incident plane wave or from localized light sources into a preferential direction. The directionality is obtained by carefully balancing the multipolar contributions to the scattering response from the constituents of the metasurface. The hybrid nanoantennas are composed of a plasmonic gold nanorod acting as a feed element and a silicon nanodisk acting as a director element. In order to experimentally realize this design, we have developed a two-step electron-beam lithography process in combination with a precision alignment step. The optical response of the fabricated sample is measured and reveals distinct signatures of coupling between the plasmonic and the dielectric nanoantenna elements that ultimately leads to unidirectional radiation of light.

We demonstrate intrinsic, linearly polarized lasing from single GaN nanowires using cross-sectional shape control. A two-step top-down fabrication approach was employed to create straight nanowires with controllable rectangular cross-sections. A clear lasing threshold of 444 kW cm-2 and a narrow spectral line width of 0.16 nm were observed under optical pumping at room temperature, indicating the onset of lasing. The polarization was along the short dimension (y-direction) of the nanowire due to the higher transverse confinement factors for y-polarized transverse modes resulting from the rectangular nanowire cross-section. The results show that cross-sectioned shape control can enable inherent control over the polarization of nanowire lasers without additional environment requirements, such as placement onto lossy substrates.

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We present all-dielectric 2D and 3D metamaterials that are monolithically fabricated from III-V semiconductor nanostructures. The active/gain and high optical nonlinearity properties of the metamaterials can lead to new classes of active devices.

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