The objective of this research is to develop novel artificial materials exhibiting unique optical properties that are yet to exist in naturally occurring materials. In order to attain materials with custom-designed optical characteristics, judiciously engineered combinations of materials such as metals, semiconductors and insulators must be devised. These new artificial materials, commonly referred to as metamaterials, are fabricated to be much thinner than the wavelength of light. Potential applications of such metamaterials include devices capable of controlling and switching light at very high speeds, as well as infrared sensors and light detectors. Research efforts encompass computational design, materials fabrication, and optical characterization of the metamaterials. The research team comprises two graduate students, who are assisted during the summer months by an undergraduate student as well as a student from a local high school. All participating students receive training in modern materials fabrication techniques, laser operation, and computer simulation methods. An on-going coordination with the University of Texas at San Antonio - a designated Hispanic Serving Institution - is used to recruit summer students for this project.
research team is exploiting several unique synergies between plasmonic metasurfaces and two-dimensional (2D) materials, by harnessing the ability of metasurfaces to concentrate optical energy to the extreme optical nonlinearities of 2D materials in the mid-IR. In this way it is utilizing plasmonic metasurfaces as gating electrodes to engineer the quantum properties of 2D materials. This enables a new regime of strong optical coupling in hybrid plasmonic-2D systems. The gating metasurface electrodes are additionally used to periodically modulate the chemical potential of the 2D material, resulting in a quantum Bragg reflector for surface graphene plasmons - a novel concept that bridges materials science and optics. Using first-principles modeling, advanced fabrication and optical characterization, plasmonic metasurfaces are fabricated and integrated with 2D materials to create these new hybrid materials. Unique optical characteristics of this system, such as anomalously high optical nonlinearities and ultrafast response, are explored and utilized for efficient optical harmonics generation as well as in ultrafast nonlinear optical devices.
