Roadmap for Optical Metasurfaces.

Metasurfaces have recently risen to prominence in optical research, providing unique functionalities that can be used for imaging, beam forming, holography, polarimetry, and many more, while keeping device dimensions small. Despite the fact that a vast range of basic metasurface designs has already been thoroughly studied in the literature, the number of metasurface-related papers is still growing at a rapid pace, as metasurface research is now spreading to adjacent fields, including computational imaging, augmented and virtual reality, automotive, display, biosensing, nonlinear, quantum and topological optics, optical computing, and more. At the same time, the ability of metasurfaces to perform optical functions in much more compact optical systems has triggered strong and constantly growing interest from various industries that greatly benefit from the availability of miniaturized, highly functional, and efficient optical components that can be integrated in optoelectronic systems at low cost.

Metasurface Light-Emitting Diodes with Directional and Focused Emission.

Phased-array metasurfaces enable the imprinting of complex beam structures onto coherent incident light. Recent demonstrations of phased-array metasurfaces highlight possibilities for achieving similar control in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, phased-array metasurface LEDs have not yet been demonstrated owing to the complexities of integrating device stacks and electrodes within nanopatterned metasurfaces.

Designing Highly Directional Luminescent Phased-Array Metasurfaces with Reciprocity-Based Simulations.

Phased-array metasurfaces grant the ability to arbitrarily shape the wavefront of light. As such, they have been used as various optical elements including waveplates, lenses, and beam deflectors. Luminescent metasurfaces, on the other hand, have largely comprised uniform arrays and are therefore unable to provide the same control over the wavefront of emitted light.

Optical-Frequency Magnetic Polarizability in a Layered Semiconductor.

The optical response of crystals is most commonly attributed to electric dipole interactions between light and matter. Although metamaterials support "artificial" magnetic resonances supported by mesoscale structuring, there are no naturally occurring materials known to exhibit a nonzero optical-frequency magnetic polarizability. Here, we experimentally demonstrate and quantify a naturally occurring nonzero magnetic polarizability in a layered semiconductor system: two-dimensional (Ruddlesden-Popper phase) hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites.

Light-emitting metalenses and meta-axicons for focusing and beaming of spontaneous emission.

Phased-array metasurfaces have been extensively used for wavefront shaping of coherent incident light. Due to the incoherent nature of spontaneous emission, the ability to similarly tailor photoluminescence remains largely unexplored. Recently, unidirectional photoluminescence from InGaN/GaN quantum-well metasurfaces incorporating one-dimensional phase profiles has been shown.

Even-Parity Self-Trapped Excitons Lead to Magnetic Dipole Radiation in Two-Dimensional Lead Halide Perovskites.

Recently, unconventional bright magnetic dipole (MD) radiation was observed from two-dimensional (2D) hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs). According to commonly accepted HOIP band structure calculations, such MD light emission from the ground-state exciton should be strictly symmetry forbidden. These results suggest that MD emission arises in conjunction with an as-yet unidentified symmetry-breaking mechanism.

Bright magnetic dipole radiation from two-dimensional lead-halide perovskites.

Light-matter interactions in semiconductors are uniformly treated within the electric dipole approximation; multipolar interactions are considered "forbidden." We experimentally demonstrate that this approximation inadequately describes light emission in two-dimensional (2D) hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs), solution processable semiconductors with promising optoelectronic properties. By exploiting the highly oriented crystal structure, we use energy-momentum spectroscopies to demonstrate that an exciton-like sideband in 2D HOIPs exhibits a multipolar radiation pattern with highly directed emission.

Chemical and Structural Diversity of Hybrid Layered Double Perovskite Halides.

Hybrid halide double perovskites are a class of compounds attracting growing interest because of their richness of structure and property. Two-dimensional (2D) derivatives of hybrid double perovskites are formed by the incorporation of organic spacer cations into three-dimensional (3D) double perovskites. Here, we report a series of seven new layered double perovskite halides with propylammonium (PA), octylammonium (OCA), and 1,4-butyldiammonium (BDA) cations.

Optical Constants and Effective-Medium Origins of Large Optical Anisotropies in Layered Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Perovskites.

Hybrid organic/inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) are of great interest for optoelectronic applications due to their quality electronic and optical properties and the exceptional ease of room-temperature synthesis. Layered HOIP structures, ..

Phase Stability and Diffusion in Lateral Heterostructures of Methyl Ammonium Lead Halide Perovskites.

Mixed halide hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have band gaps that span the visible spectrum making them candidates for optoelectronic devices. Transport of the halide atoms in methyl ammonium lead iodide (MAPbI) and its alloys with bromine has been observed in both dark and under illumination. While halide transport upon application of electric fields has received much attention, less is known regarding bromide and iodide interdiffusion down concentration gradients.

Enhancing Organic Semiconductor-Surface Plasmon Polariton Coupling with Molecular Orientation.

Due to strong electric field enhancements, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are capable of drastically increasing light-molecule coupling in organic optoelectronic devices. The electric field enhancement, however, is anisotropic, offering maximal functional benefits if molecules are oriented perpendicular to the interface. To provide a clear demonstration of this orientation dependence, we study SPP dispersion and SPP-mediated photoluminescence at a model Au/small-molecule interface where identical molecules can be deposited with two very different molecular backbone orientations depending on processing conditions.

Ultrawide thermal free-carrier tuning of dielectric antennas coupled to epsilon-near-zero substrates.

The principal challenge for achieving reconfigurable optical antennas and metasurfaces is the need to generate continuous and large tunability of subwavelength, low-Q resonators. We demonstrate continuous and steady-state refractive index tuning at mid-infrared wavelengths using temperature-dependent control over the low-loss plasma frequency in III-V semiconductors. In doped InSb we demonstrate nearly two-fold increase in the electron effective mass leading to a positive refractive index shift (Δn > 1.

Ultrawide Thermo-optic Tuning of PbTe Meta-Atoms.

Subwavelength Mie resonators have enabled new classes of optical antenna and nanophotonic devices and can act as the basic meta-atom constituents of low-loss dielectric metasurfaces. In any application, tunable Mie resonances are key to achieving a dynamic and reconfigurable operation. However, the active tuning of these nanoantennas is still limited and usually results in sub-linewidth resonance tuning.

Model-blind characterization of thin-film optical constants with momentum-resolved reflectometry.

Determining optical constants of thin material films is important for characterizing their electronic excitations and for the design of optoelectronic devices. Spectroscopic ellipsometry techniques have emerged as the predominant approach for measuring thin-film optical constants. However, ellipsometry methods suffer from complications associated with highly model-dependent, multi-parameter spectral fitting procedures.

Designing Multipolar Resonances in Dielectric Metamaterials.

Dielectric resonators form the building blocks of nano-scale optical antennas and metamaterials. Due to their multipolar resonant response and low intrinsic losses they offer design flexibility and high-efficiency performance. These resonators are typically described in terms of a spherical harmonic decomposition with Mie theory.

Widely Tunable Infrared Antennas Using Free Carrier Refraction.

We demonstrate tuning of infrared Mie resonances by varying the carrier concentration in doped semiconductor antennas. We fabricate spherical silicon and germanium particles of varying sizes and doping concentrations. Single-particle infrared spectra reveal electric and magnetic dipole, quadrupole, and hexapole resonances.

Recent Advances in Two-Dimensional Materials beyond Graphene.

The isolation of graphene in 2004 from graphite was a defining moment for the "birth" of a field: two-dimensional (2D) materials. In recent years, there has been a rapidly increasing number of papers focusing on non-graphene layered materials, including transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), because of the new properties and applications that emerge upon 2D confinement. Here, we review significant recent advances and important new developments in 2D materials "beyond graphene".

Morphology-dependent light trapping in thin-film organic solar cells.

The active layer materials used in organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells often self-assemble into highly ordered morphologies, resulting in significant optical anisotropies. However, the impact of these anisotropies on light trapping in nanophotonic OPV architectures has not been considered. In this paper, we show that optical anisotropies in a canonical OPV material, P3HT, strongly affect absorption enhancements in ultra-thin textured OPV cells.

Orientation of luminescent excitons in layered nanomaterials.

In nanomaterials, optical anisotropies reveal a fundamental relationship between structural and optical properties. Directional optical properties can be exploited to enhance the performance of optoelectronic devices, optomechanical actuators and metamaterials. In layered materials, optical anisotropies may result from in-plane and out-of-plane dipoles associated with intra- and interlayer excitations, respectively.

Nanophotonic light trapping with patterned transparent conductive oxides.

Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) play a crucial role in solar cells by efficiently transmitting sunlight and extracting photo-generated charge. Here, we show how nanophotonics concepts can be used to transform TCO films into effective photon management layers for solar cells. This is accomplished by patterning the TCO layer present on virtually every thin-film solar cell into an array of subwavelength beams that support optical (Mie) resonances.

Dielectric particle and void resonators for thin film solar cell textures.

Using Mie theory and Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) we compare the properties of dielectric particle and void resonators. We show that void resonators-low refractive index inclusions within a high index embedding medium-exhibit larger bandwidth resonances, reduced peak scattering intensity, different polarization anisotropies, and enhanced forward scattering when compared to their particle (high index inclusions in a low index medium) counterparts. We evaluate amorphous silicon solar cell textures comprising either arrays of voids or particles.

Plasmonics for extreme light concentration and manipulation.

The unprecedented ability of nanometallic (that is, plasmonic) structures to concentrate light into deep-subwavelength volumes has propelled their use in a vast array of nanophotonics technologies and research endeavours. Plasmonic light concentrators can elegantly interface diffraction-limited dielectric optical components with nanophotonic structures. Passive and active plasmonic devices provide new pathways to generate, guide, modulate and detect light with structures that are similar in size to state-of-the-art electronic devices.

Semiconductor nanowire optical antenna solar absorbers.

Photovoltaic (PV) cells can serve as a virtually unlimited clean source of energy by converting sunlight into electrical power. Their importance is reflected in the tireless efforts that have been devoted to improving the electrical and structural properties of PV materials. More recently, photon management (PM) has emerged as a powerful additional means to boost energy conversion efficiencies.

General properties of dielectric optical antennas.

Using Mie theory we derive a number of general results concerning the resonances of spherical and cylindrical dielectric antennas. Specifically, we prove that the peak scattering cross-section of radiation-limited antennas depends only on the resonance frequency and thus is independent of refractive index and size, a result which is valid even when the resonator is atomic-scale. Furthermore, we derive scaling limits for the bandwidth of dielectric antennas and describe a cylindrical mode which is unique in its ability to support extremely large bandwidths even when the particle size is deeply subwavelength.