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Liquid crystal metamaterials for THz and IR applications

Liquid crystal metamaterials for THz and IR applications
Liquid crystal metamaterials for THz and IR applications
Metamaterials are artificially structured electromagnetic media that are designed to manipulate light in ways no natural materials can. They have rapidly advanced over the past few years and are now expected to have major impact across the entire range of technologies where electromagnetic radiation is used, ranging from RF and microwave antennas to photonics and nanophotonics.

One of the important steps towards practical application of the metamaterials is the implementation of an efficient active control over their optical response. This can be achieved by hybridising the fabric of these man-made photonic materials with naturally available functional media. Among such media liquid crystals possess arguably the largest and most broadband optical nonlinearity, while their properties can be readily controlled by light, temperature, electric and magnetic fields. Here we experimentally demonstrate active planar metamaterials - artificially structured thin metal films loaded with liquid crystals, where the resonant response can be dynamically controlled both in terms of its magnitude and wavelength using externally applied electric field. The electric control has been implemented for THz and near-IR metasurfaces by engaging for the first time the in-plane switching of liquid crystals at micro- and nano-scale.
Buchnev, O.
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Wallauer, J.
ca1290d9-09cf-4ad4-bc83-6e8af5758737
Walther, M.
79136385-d7a0-4d2e-923e-45cb852b7938
Podoliak, Nina
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Kaczmarek, M.
408ec59b-8dba-41c1-89d0-af846d1bf327
Zheludev, N.I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Fedotov, V.A.
3725f5cc-2d0b-4e61-95c5-26d187c84f25
Buchnev, O.
60cdb0d2-3388-47be-a066-61b3b396f69d
Wallauer, J.
ca1290d9-09cf-4ad4-bc83-6e8af5758737
Walther, M.
79136385-d7a0-4d2e-923e-45cb852b7938
Podoliak, Nina
0908b951-00a7-48a5-bc82-631640910b9c
Kaczmarek, M.
408ec59b-8dba-41c1-89d0-af846d1bf327
Zheludev, N.I.
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Fedotov, V.A.
3725f5cc-2d0b-4e61-95c5-26d187c84f25

Buchnev, O., Wallauer, J., Walther, M., Podoliak, Nina, Kaczmarek, M., Zheludev, N.I. and Fedotov, V.A. (2014) Liquid crystal metamaterials for THz and IR applications. Workshop on Soft Matter: Analysis, Applications and Challenges, Daejeon, Korea, Republic of. 18 - 21 Mar 2014.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Other)

Abstract

Metamaterials are artificially structured electromagnetic media that are designed to manipulate light in ways no natural materials can. They have rapidly advanced over the past few years and are now expected to have major impact across the entire range of technologies where electromagnetic radiation is used, ranging from RF and microwave antennas to photonics and nanophotonics.

One of the important steps towards practical application of the metamaterials is the implementation of an efficient active control over their optical response. This can be achieved by hybridising the fabric of these man-made photonic materials with naturally available functional media. Among such media liquid crystals possess arguably the largest and most broadband optical nonlinearity, while their properties can be readily controlled by light, temperature, electric and magnetic fields. Here we experimentally demonstrate active planar metamaterials - artificially structured thin metal films loaded with liquid crystals, where the resonant response can be dynamically controlled both in terms of its magnitude and wavelength using externally applied electric field. The electric control has been implemented for THz and near-IR metasurfaces by engaging for the first time the in-plane switching of liquid crystals at micro- and nano-scale.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 2014
Venue - Dates: Workshop on Soft Matter: Analysis, Applications and Challenges, Daejeon, Korea, Republic of, 2014-03-18 - 2014-03-21
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre, Physics & Astronomy, Quantum, Light & Matter Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 375900
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375900
PURE UUID: f2542cda-5d01-4a15-8312-ecff0480f554
ORCID for Nina Podoliak: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3146-0355
ORCID for N.I. Zheludev: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1013-6636

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Apr 2015 14:21
Last modified: 23 Feb 2023 02:55

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Contributors

Author: O. Buchnev
Author: J. Wallauer
Author: M. Walther
Author: Nina Podoliak ORCID iD
Author: M. Kaczmarek
Author: N.I. Zheludev ORCID iD
Author: V.A. Fedotov

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