Expanding chiral metamaterials for retrieving fingerprints via vibrational circular dichroism.

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy has been widely demonstrated for detecting chiral molecules. However, the determination of chiral mixtures with various concentrations and enantiomeric ratios can be a challenging task. To solve this problem, we report an enhanced vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) sensing platform based on plasmonic chiral metamaterials, which presents a 6-magnitude signal enhancement with a selectivity of chiral molecules.

Modulation bandwidth improvement of III-V/Si hybrid MOS optical modulator by reducing parasitic capacitance.

In this work, we numerically and experimentally examined the impact of parasitic capacitance on the modulation bandwidth of a III-V/Si hybrid metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) optical modulator. The numerical analysis revealed that the parasitic capacitance between the III-V membrane and the Si slab should be considered to achieve high-speed modulation, particularly in the case of a thick gate oxide. We also fabricated a high-speed InGaAsP/Si hybrid MOS optical modulator with a low capacitance using a SiO-embedded Si waveguide.

Fully integrated electrically driven optical frequency comb at communication wavelength.

To meet the high demand of data transmission capacity, optical communications systems have been developed. In order to increase the channel numbers for larger communication bandwidth, multi-mode lasers and laser arrays can be used. As an alternative coherent light source, optical frequency comb (OFC) contains multi-wavelength signal, and hence enables communication with data stream of tens of terabit/s.

Realization of Fractal-Inspired Thermoresponsive Quasi-3D Plasmonic Metasurfaces with EOT-Like Transmission for Volumetric and Multispectral Detection in the Mid-IR Region.

We use a paradigmatic mathematic model known as fractal to reverse-engineer artificial nanostructures that can potentially serve as plasmonic metasurfaces as well as nanogap electrodes. Herein, we particularly demonstrate the possibility of obtaining multispectral extraordinary optical transmission-like transmission peaks from fractal-inspired geometries, which can preserve distinct spatial characteristics. To achieve enhanced volumetric interaction and thermal responsiveness within the framework, we consider a bilayer, quasi-three-dimensional (3D) configuration that relies on the unique approach of combining complementary and noncomplementary surfaces, while avoiding the need for multilayer alignment on the nanoscale.

Thermoplasmonic Study of a Triple Band Optical Nanoantenna Strongly Coupled to Mid IR Molecular Mode.

We report the first thermal study of a triple band plasmonic nanoantenna strongly coupled to a molecular mode at mid IR wavelength (MW IR). The hybrid plasmonic structure supports three spatially and spectrally variant resonances of which two are magnetic and one is dipolar in nature. A hybridized mode is excited by coupling the structure's plasmonic mode with the vibrational mode of PMMA at 5.

Microelectromechanically tunable multiband metamaterial with preserved isotropy.

We experimentally demonstrate a micromachined reconfigurable metamaterial with polarization independent characteristics for multiple resonances in terahertz spectral region. The metamaterial unit cell consists of eight out-of-plane deformable microcantilevers placed at each corner of an octagon ring. The octagon shaped unit cell geometry provides the desired rotational symmetry, while the out-of-plane movable cantilevers preserves the symmetry at different configurations of the metamaterial.

Two-dimensional photonic-crystal-based Fabry-Perot etalon.

We demonstrate the design, fabrication, and characterization of a polycrystalline-silicon-based photonic crystal Fabry-Perot etalon, which is aimed to work in the mid-infrared wavelengths. The highly reflective mirrors required in a Fabry-Perot etalon are realized by freestanding polycrystalline-silicon-based photonic crystal membranes with etched circular air holes. A peak reflection of 96.

Suspended 2-D photonic crystal aluminum nitride membrane reflector.

We experimentally demonstrated a free-standing two-dimensional (2-D) photonic crystal (PhC) aluminum nitride (AlN) membrane to function as a free space (or out-of-plane) reflector working in the mid infrared region. By etching circular holes of radius 620nm in a 330nm thick AlN slab, greater than 90% reflection was measured from 3.08μm to 3.

Fabry-Perot filter using grating structures.

Grating structures are designed at the inner wall of the Fabry-Perot (FP) resonator to enhance the performance of an FP optical filter. The rectangular grating or triangular grating (TG) structures allows the light to be propagated effectively through the FP resonator. Attributed to the grating structures, the spectrum intensity of a FP resonator with grating structures is calculated to be 4.