Materials World Network: Classical and Quantum Optical Metamaterials by Combining Top-down and Bottom-up Fabrication Techniques

材料世界网络：结合自上而下和自下而上制造技术的经典和量子光学超材料

• 批准号: 1210170
• 负责人: Xiang Zhang
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-15 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1210170&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Materials; World; Network; Classical; Quantum

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Benefiting from advancement of micro and nanofabrication tools, the research in metamaterials has been recently extended from microwave to terahertz and optical frequencies. The scale-down of metamaterials to meet optical frequencies, paves the way for a new class of metamaterials, namely quantum metamaterials, which could have a profound impact on a broad range of applications in telecommunication, optical imaging, energy harvesting, health care, and homeland security. However, further breakthrough in the field of optical metamaterials is hindered by several factors: (1) the capability of current top-down fabrication techniques to engineer structures at a few nanometers scale; (2) lack of long range ordering by using the bottom up nanofabrication approaches; (3) optical loss in the metal-based optical metamaterials; (4) lack of optical control at low photon levels in optical metamaterials. In this project, scientists aim to solve the above issues by combining top-down and bottom-up nanofabrication techniques for the manufacturing of optical metamaterials, and by extending metamaterials to the quantum regime to reduce the loss and to introduce novel optical control schemes that go beyond classical metamaterials. This project combines synergistically three collaborators, two in the UK and one in the US, to investigate the fabrication, characterization and modeling of novel classical and quantum optical metamaterials. The central rationale for this collaborative group is that it matches a UK group with expertise in large scale nanofabrication, a UK group in demonstrated theoretical capabilities in nonlinear optics, with a US group with demonstrated record of various optical characterization techniques. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Metamaterials are man-made materials that mimic the order of the matters. Metamaterials consist of artificially engineered "atoms" and "molecules", which can be designed to show optical properties unattainable from naturally occurring materials. Metamaterials present a novel platform for controlling light at one's will with potential applications such as a powerful imaging lens that beats the imaging diffraction limit and an invisibility cloak that renders object invisible to outside observers. By introducing a novel nanofabrication paradigm, this collaborative project aims at solving the issues that hinder the practical application of metamaterials, and bridging the gap between the proof-of-concept demonstrations in the laboratory to real world applications. The research to be undertaken here has several areas of broad impact. First, it will foster an interdisciplinary examination of the fundamental materials science, which includes fabrication, materials physics, optical physics, and theory. Second it will enable three groups in the US and the UK, with a strong history of interactions and complementary expertise and capabilities to collaborate. This work involves the opportunity for both graduate and undergraduate students to collaborate and travel in an international setting. Third, the program has concrete plans and procedures to seek out recruitment of diverse student collaborators. Fourth, the project enables students to collaborate via extended visits and shorter trips with a major National Laboratory, i.e. Lawrence Berkeley Lab, where one of the PIs was an academic staff, as well as the London Centre for Nanotechnology, UK's premier nanofabrication facility shared by the University College London and Imperial College London.This project is supported by the Electronic and Photonic Materials program and Office of Special Programs, Division of Materials Research.

技术摘要：从微观和纳米制作工具的发展中受益，超材料的研究最近已从微波炉扩展到Terahertz和光学频率。超材料的规模降低了满足光学频率的规模，为新的超材料（即量子超材料）铺平了道路，这可能会对电信，光学成像，能源收集，卫生保健和国土安全的广泛应用产生深远的影响。但是，在光学超材料领域的进一步突破受到了几个因素的阻碍：（1）当前自上而下的制造技术能够以几种纳米尺度的规模对工程师结构进行工程结构的能力； （2）通过使用自下而上的纳米制作方法缺乏远程排序； （3）基于金属的光学超材料的光损失； （4）光学超材料中低光子水平的光控制缺乏。 在该项目中，科学家的目的是通过将自上而下和自下而上的纳米制造技术结合到制造光学超材料，以及将超材料扩展到量子制度，以减少损失并引入超越经典的莫纳特层的新型光学控制方案，从而解决上述问题。该项目结合了三个合作者，其中两个在英国和一个在美国的合作者，研究了新型古典和量子光学超材料的制造，表征和建模。该协作小组的主要理由是，它与一个英国集团具有大规模纳米制作的专业知识，这是英国在非线性光学方面展示的理论能力，其中一个美国集团具有各种光学特征技术的记录。非技术摘要：超材料是模仿事项顺序的人造材料。超材料由人工设计的“原子”和“分子”组成，它们的设计旨在显示出从天然发生的材料中无法实现的光学特性。超材料提供了一个新颖的平台，用于通过潜在的应用来控制光线的光线，例如强大的成像透镜，它超过了成像衍射极限和一个隐形斗篷，这使外部观察者看不见对象。通过引入一种新型的纳米制作范式，该协作项目旨在解决阻碍超材料实际应用的问题，并弥合实验室在实验室中对现实世界应用的概念证明示范之间的差距。这里要进行的研究具有广泛影响的几个领域。首先，它将促进对基本材料科学的跨学科检查，其中包括制造，材料物理，光学物理学和理论。其次，它将在美国和英国实现三个小组，并具有悠久的互动和补充专业知识和能力的历史。这项工作涉及研究生和本科生在国际环境中进行合作和旅行的机会。第三，该计划制定了具体计划和程序，以寻求招募各种学生合作者的招聘。第四，该项目使学生能够通过长期访问和短途旅行与一家主要的国家实验室（即劳伦斯·伯克利（Lawrence Berkeley）实验室进行合作，其中一名PIS是一名学术人员，以及伦敦纳米技术中心，英国伦敦大学伦敦大学伦敦大学和帝国学院共享的英国纳米工具设施，由材料和材料材料部门提供了支持和材料研究部门，并提供了材料研究。