Collaborative Research: Electric-field Directed Assembly of 3D Chiral Metamaterials

合作研究：3D 手性超材料的电场定向组装

• 批准号: 1611330
• 负责人: Ning Wu
• 金额: $ 27万
• 依托单位: Colorado School of Mines
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-08-01 至 2020-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1611330&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Electric; field; Directed

Chirality is a fundamental characteristic of living matter. Chiral metamaterials are engineered structures composed of periodic metallodielectric building blocks that exhibit chirality. The resonance of individual building blocks and strong coupling between neighbors allow the realization of exotic electromagnetic properties such as negative refractive index and giant circular dichroism. Chiral metamaterials could revolutionize many modern technologies including superlenses, optical communication, cloaking devices, and high resolution sensors. Three-dimensional chiral metamaterials are, however, extremely difficult to fabricate especially in an economical and large scale fashion. This research will utilize asymmetric particles as building blocks and exploit a time-varying electric field to guide the assembly of these particles into long-range periodic chiral structures. The solution-based process could potentially reduce the fabrication cost significantly. The compatibility of the electrode design with existing microelectronic manufacturing infrastructures will also open the door to commercialize innovative metamaterials for emerging applications. The research team will also engage both high school and undergraduate students with immersive research experiences. Learning modules such as "Colloids, surfactants, and our daily lives" and "Optical technology that changes our lives" will be developed in collaboration with K-12 teachers. The research findings will also be included in the development of several multi-disciplinary courses such as "Engineering of Soft Materials" and "Nanotechnology: From Molecules to Machines". The goal of this collaborative project is to use electric fields to assemble Janus metallodielectric particles into a periodic array of chiral clusters as an efficient bottom-up route for making three-dimensional chiral metamaterials. Particles with increasing morphological complexity will be fabricated as building blocks by glancing angle deposition. A liquid electrode cell will be built for the manipulation of the Janus particles via time-varying electric fields in three-dimensions. The Coulomb, dipolar, and electrohydrodynamic interactions will be exploited to guide the assembly of Janus particles into chiral clusters. Further manipulation of the chirality of the electric fields will transform the racemic mixture into enantiomerically pure clusters. The photonic response of the fabricated structures and their applications will be measured and explored in both near-infrared and visible regions. Numerical simulations will also be performed to elucidate the particle assembly mechanisms, their optical properties, and guide experimental optimization. The collaborative and iterative nature of this project will reveal the interrelationship between the design of fundamental building blocks, control of lattice symmetry, and targeted photonic properties of chiral metamaterials.

手性是生物的基本特征。手性超材料是由表现出手性的周期性金属纤维构件组成的工程结构。邻居之间单个构件的共振和牢固的耦合，可以实现外来电磁特性，例如负折射率和巨大的圆形二科运动。手性超材料可以彻底改变许多现代技术，包括超级镜头，光学通信，掩盖设备和高分辨率传感器。但是，三维性手性超材料极为难以制造，尤其是在经济和大规模的方式中。这项研究将利用不对称的颗粒作为构建块，并利用时间变化的电场，以引导这些颗粒的组装成远程的周期性手性结构。基于解决方案的过程可能会大大降低制造成本。电极设计与现有的微电子制造基础设施的兼容性还将为新兴应用的创新超材料商业化。研究团队还将与高中生和本科生一起，具有沉浸式研究经验。将与K-12老师合作开发学习模块，例如“胶体，表面活性剂和我们的日常生活”和“改变我们生活的光学技术”。研究发现还将包括在几个多学科课程的开发中，例如“软材料的工程”和“纳米技术：从分子到机器”。这个协作项目的目的是使用电场将Janus Metallodielectric颗粒组装成定期的手性簇，以作为制造三维性手性质材料的有效自下而上的途径。形态复杂性增加的颗粒将通过扫视角度沉积作为构建块制造。将建造一个液态电池电池，用于通过三维的时变电场来操纵Janus颗粒。将利用库仑，偶极和电水动力学相互作用，以引导Janus颗粒的组装成手性簇。进一步操纵电场的手性将使外表面混合物转化为对映体纯簇。将在近红外和可见区域中测量和探索制造结构及其应用的光子响应。还将进行数值模拟，以阐明粒子组装机制，其光学特性和指导实验优化。该项目的协作和迭代性质将揭示基本构建块的设计，晶格对称性的控制和手性超材料的有针对性光子性能之间的相互关系。