This award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to Indiana University is to study metallodielectric optical metamaterials composed of optically-resonant metal inclusions in a dielectric matrix having sub wavelength lattice periods using virus-like particles. Metamaterials have optical (or more general, electromagnetic) properties determined by their organized structure rather than inherited directly from the material properties of individual subunits. Metallodielectric metamaterials are composed of optically resonant metal inclusions in a dielectric matrix and have sub wavelength lattice periods. Because of their freedom of design and promise for novel properties, at present, the optical response of metallodielectrics is intensely studied. However, for metallodielectric metamaterials to be useful in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum, they require extended three-dimensional (3D) structures with lattice constants between 10 and 100 nm, which are difficult to synthesize with current technologies. A solution to this problem is proposed and this is based on a biological pathway to optical metamaterials. The building block for the new 3D metamaterial will be a virus-like particle, which is a hybrid construct composed of a symmetric protein cage encapsulating an optically active nanoparticle. Because of their surface regularity, virus-like particles are expected to organize readily into three-dimensional crystals. The symmetry and the lattice parameters will be varied using different particle cores and engineered protein shells. Theoretical approaches in collaboration with Rice University will be studied to compare the roles of different phenomena contributing to the experimental optical responses. The predicted applications metallodielectric metamaterials include better lenses, exotic coatings, new lasers, and miniaturization of photonic technologies beyond the diffraction limit.
The project will provide a truly multidisciplinary environment for the students involved and the project is expected to appeal a broad variety of students. These students will be working with a team of experimental physical chemists, theoretical physicists, and virologists with complementary skills. Besides the optical applications of these metamaterials, the virus-like particles have following potential biomedical uses: a) autonomous, non-intrusive inter- and intracellular vectors and functional imaging probes; b) experimental models for templated biological self-assembly in which the size, stability, and assembly kinetics can be controlled via functionalization of the core surface; and c) improved antiviral vaccines that have the same epitope surface as the native virus, but lack any genetic material.
