Angular distribution of emission from hyperbolic metamaterials

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion offer unique optical properties.
• Controlling light emission from dye molecules on nanostructured surfaces is crucial for optoelectronic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the angular distribution of dye molecule emission on two types of hyperbolic metamaterials: lamellar metal/dielectric and silicon/silver nanowire arrays.
• To compare experimental results with theoretical predictions and effective medium models.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of lamellar metal/dielectric and Si/Ag nanowire metamaterials.
• Deposition of dye molecules onto the metamaterial surfaces.
• Measurement of the angular distribution of emitted light from the dye molecules.

Main Results:

• Emission patterns of dye on lamellar metamaterials matched theoretical predictions for metal surfaces.
• Experimental emission patterns for nanowire metamaterials deviated from effective medium model predictions.
• A nearly Lambertian (∝cosθ) emission pattern was observed for the nanowire-based sample.

Conclusions:

• The emission pattern of dye on lamellar metamaterials is consistent with theoretical expectations.
• The effective medium model fails to accurately predict emission from Si/Ag nanowire metamaterials.
• Surface roughness is proposed as a tentative explanation for the observed emission pattern in nanowire-based samples.